IJTIHAD

An Undergraduate Publication
Department of History
Lady Shri Ram College for Women.

Ijtihad is the annual academic journal of

the Department of History, Lady Shri
Ram College for Women. Keeping its
religious connotations aside, Ijtihad
(Arabic: )is a term that means
"independent reasoning" or "the utmost
effort an individual can put forth in an
activity." The journal seeks to reflect this
spirit of an unhindered, ceaseless quest for
the many contemplations of historical
truth.
Started in 2014, the compilation invites
undergraduate student research papers
covering any historical topic, for peer
review and publication; with an aim to
nurture historical imagination on campus.
Published in New Delhi by
Department of History
Lady Shri Ram College for Women
Lajpat Nagar-IV, New Delhi,
Delhi
110024
Phone: 011 -2643 4459
Department of History, Lady Shri Ram
College for Women 2016
The moral rights of the contributing
authors have been asserted.

No part of this publication may be

reproduced or transmitted, in any form
or by any means without prior
permission in writing of the Department
of History, Lady Shri Ram College for

Women, New Delhi.

HISTORY UNION, 2015-16

Malvika Sharad, President
Surbhi Vatsa, Secretary
Nandini Singhal, Treasurer

ADVISORY BOARD
Dr. Debatri Bhattacharjee
Mr. Pankaj K. Jha
Dr. Vasudha Pande

EDITORIAL BOARD
Editors in Chief
Aishwarya Upadhyay
Sahitya Poonacha

Sub Editors
Aditi Kumar
Trishla Bafna
Irandati Pal
Jhilam Roy

Cover Art
Bhavya

From The Editors Desk

History comes as a breath of fresh air in this world wrapped up in the present and the pollution
of misinterpretations. To be able to pull a history out of triviality is a herculean task whether
sources are abundant or sparse. It is no simple feat to put understanding into words, and to
express emotions and ideas of a space-time far removed from ones own.
Ijtihad, the academic journal of the Department of History, Lady Shri Ram College, is an
attempt to string together enthusiastic young researchers while encouraging them to
contribute to the ethos of the academia in department. The journal provides a compelling
opportunity to the student body to get their self-authored work published.
In this, the third edition of the annual journal, the articles cover an array of research areas,
from the influence of Japanese in the creation of Swadeshi art in Bengal to the depiction of
gender in the Natyashastra. Fascinating papers on themes like Tattoos and Pop Art can be
found interspersed with pages which also carry intriguing writings on deconstructing
Nationalism.
This year was monumental for the Department of History, with the unprecedented success of
the annual academic festival Maazi-o-Mustaqbil. The editorial board of the journal had the
opportunity to interview two imminent scholars, Dr. Gopinath Ravindaran, ex- member
secretary of ICHR and Dr. Dilip Simeon, a labour historian and public intellectual.
This edition wouldnt have been possible without the tremendous support of our distinguished
faculty along with the constant encouragement of the department union. We must thank our
subeditors who worked tirelessly to ensure the timely publication of the journal. Our
contributing authors had to put up with the demands and questions of the editorial board and
we appreciate their effort in putting together their best.
The focus of the editorial board has been to publish a journal which is gripping and thoughtprovoking at the same time. We earnestly hope that you enjoy flipping through the pages,
reading and re-reading some of the brilliant pieces contributed by our student body which have
been meticulously handpicked by the editorial team of Ijtihad16.

Aishwarya Upadhyay
Sahitya Poonacha

Contents
1. History in School: An Analysis of the Ideas Projected by History Text
Books for Young Readers
Sakshi Ghosh.......................................................................................................1
2. Nayika: Her Evolution in Three Texts: A Gendered Perspective
Shreya Dua...........................................................................................................6
3. Japanese Influence in the Creation of Swadeshi Art in Early 20th Century
Bengal
Tara Vidisha Ghose............................................................................................11
4. Tattoos: A Visual Language
Nitika Sharma.....................................................................................................16
5. The Representation of the Qutub in popular culture and Modern
Historiography
Niyati Gangwar..................................................................................................22
6. The history of institutions and the institutions of history: tte--tte with
Professor Gopinath Ravindran.........................................................................27
7. National to Moral: in conversation with Mr. Dilip Simeon...........................31
8. Natyashastra: A Treatise on Society?
Sahitya Poonacha and Mayurpankhi Choudhury..............................................35
9. A Derelict Assignee?
Jhilam Roy..........................................................................................................41
10. Pop Art and the Culture of Commodities
Tara Vidisha Ghose ..........................................................................................49
11. Deconstructing Nationalism: Discourses in the 20th Century
Sabujkoli Mukherjee.........................................................................................54

History in School: An Analysis of the ideas projected

by History text books for the young reader
Sakshi Ghosh
The idea of what constitutes or does not constitute History is not only an academic but a
popular concern. The paper attempts to understand the picture projected by History
textbooks (published by NCERT in 2006 for classes 6th, 7th and 8th) about the institution of
caste and its limitations. The paper argues for inclusion of a socially and politically sensitive
topic like caste in History textbooks. This would make the student aware of the political
importance of historical enquiry and critique the popular notion of History being a collection
of facts to be committed to memory.

History finds its way into the discussions, debates and even casual conversation between
people more often than they realize. It is indeed one of the most used and abused terms.
However looking into what constitutes and shapes popular perception about history is an
engaging exercise not only for the variety of responses it may evoke but also the depth of
each response.
A lay persons understanding of what constitutes (and does not constitute) History is an
extremely contextual and contentious subject of study. Unlike mechanics or natural world, a
child has to depend on adults around him to make sense of the past1. From the collective
memory passed on to a child during early years of upbringing in form of stories, myths,
lived experiences, celebration of personality centred events of political importance, to
exposure to television, songs and now even social media platforms lend to the childs
understanding of the past. Other than these, there are other more direct factors which
shape a persons understanding of History namely formal schooling and text books.
This paper attempts to look at the popular picture of History that the school texts published
by NCERT create for a young reader. Due to personal constraints, I limit my study to an
analysis of how three History Textbooks Our Past-I, Our Past-II and Our Past-III,
conceptualised and written for students of classes 6th, 7th and 8th respectively deal with the
issue of Caste in Indian History.
This paper, in no way, tries to ignore other factors that supplement the understanding of
History, perhaps more than the text itself, but simply launches an enquiry into
understanding the curriculum keeping in mind the fact that it is the child who is at the
receiving end. Text books are politically significant and education is often means of creating
a sense of National identity (as understood by the people in power): this can be seen in the
establishment and creation of NCERT. The National Council of Educational Research and
Training (NCERT) is an autonomous organisation set up in 1961 by the Government of
1

Kumar, Krishna, Prejudice and Pride, Penguin Books India, 2001, p 21.

India to assist and advise the Central and State Governments on policies and programmes
for qualitative improvement in school education (Annual Report, NCERT, 2013-14 2015, 1).
The NCERT text books have undergone revision and change under different political
regimes trying to come to terms with the idea of secularism and its opposite i.e.
communalism which has a bearing on how the past has been represented.1
The History textbooks that were brought forth in 2006 represent a sea change in the
manner in which school texts grapple with the sense of our collective past. The process
involved eminent Historians from premier Universities introducing ways and means to shift
focus from learning of facts and information to enquiry and imagination. The Preface and
Introduction to Our Past-I and the various boxes strewn around the texts under labels likelet's discuss, let's imagine etc. stand testimony to this fact and so does the note by Neeladhri
Bhattacharya at the beginning of the text book (Our Pasts-I 2013)
These texts answer many of the issues raised by Krishna Kumar in his work Prejudice and
Pride2 nonetheless it remains a sanitized version of Indian History where issues like
communal and other forms of violence are absent and instances of caste and gender
discrimination remain mellow.
Caste as an institution cannot be absent in any discussion on Indian History. As I hope to
show, however, it is not given enough space in the three books which chronologically deal
with pre-historical, ancient, medieval and modern period and thematically shift the focus
from rulers and politics to various players from different social, economic and geographical
backgrounds in order to create a more holistic sense of Indian History.
The History text for class 6th mentions the various words used to describe people as
mentioned in the Rigveda (Our Pasts-I 2013, 46-47), moving to a discussion on Varna and
its association with Birth and occupation (Our Pasts-I 2013, 55-56). There is also a section
that deals with people inhabiting the villages in south and north India and their different
roles indicative of their status and economic position (Our Pasts-I 2013, 88-89). A direct
reference to Fa Xians comments on the treatment of untouchables also finds mention (Our
Pasts-I 2013, 119).
In the textbook for class 7th, the issue of social mobility and proliferation of jatis is given
space under the heading of New Social and Political Groups referring to the rise of
Rajputs, Sikhs, Jats, Kayasthas and increasing number of jatis in relation to economic
developments of the time (Our Pasts-II 2013, 6-8).
The book for class 8th refers to the institution of caste in greater detail in one of its most
informative chapters entitled Women, Caste and Reform. This chapter is broadly divided
into two main segments on the issue of reform in the treatment of women and the second
part deals with caste and social reform (Our Pasts-III 2013, 114-119). This section talks
about the various political developments and reform movements by Periyar, Jyotirao Phule
and Ghasidas, the anti-caste views expressed by Rammohun Roy, the Prathana Sabha and
1
2

Kumar, Krishna, Prejudice and Pride, Penguin Books India, 2001, pp 50-65.
Ibid.

the Paramhans Mandali. The last chapter India after Independence dedicates space to
discussion on how untouchability was dealt with in the Constitution of Independent India
making necessary provisions for the poor and the backward (Our Pasts-III 2013, 162-163).
The issue of caste as portrayed in the three NCERT books under consideration has
significant limitations. First of all, these texts follow a distinct cause-reaction format. Varna,
as illustrated in class 6th textbook, is said to be the creation of the priest and it defines
duties and occupation based on birth. This portrayal is likely to create an abstract picture of
a rigid system. Caste related violence is limited to practice of untouchability.
The maximum number and instances of reference to caste as an institution is found in the
class 6th text. The book meant for class 7th introduces the reader to the concept of jati and
increase in number of jatis due to socio economic differences. However, it does not explain
how a varna and jati are different. These terms are used interchangeably in everyday life
and to distinguish between the two is necessary, as it is the very concept of the jati and the
idea of proliferation of jatis that helps in creating and maintaining a faade of rigidity of the
four varna system.
Lack of explanation on what addition of jati or sub-caste does to the entire caste structure
adds to the abstractness of the concept. These books are catering to a very diverse socioeconomic group of young readers and the issue of caste as addressed by these texts will
create a sense of disconnect for the urban students who are seldom aware of the intricacies
of the system. While for a student in rural areas or residing in fringes of metropolitan cities
or hailing from the economically and socially disadvantaged sections of society it may create
a sense of disconnect for its very abstractness. In the students mind, this might create
incongruence between their lived and academic experience.
The overarching framework of cause and reaction creates its own complications. The text
meant for class 8th has a section called Caste and Social Reforms in the chapter on
Women, Caste and Reform. These reforms are presented as personality centric and the
organizational character of the reform movements are highlighted. The last chapter shows
how the Constitution dealt with the idea of untouchability. The style and theoretical frame
of all the three texts as a whole treat caste as an institution created by priests: an institution
that was dealt with by a few organized movements and eventually by the state.
Making of the varna system is shown to have a tangible cause leading to specific reactions in
the form of people questioning the various facets of the system. This framework very
importantly misses out on local participation in this system and the various ways in which
people subvert these restrictions, as also the extent of influence it had on ordinary lives
from food to customs to organisation and location of living spaces.
No one can deny the inherently oppressive character of caste, but highlighting its dynamism
would put the reader in a better position to appreciate the many ways in which this resilient
institution continues to affect our present.
Secondly, the flexibility of the institution and maintenance of a faade of rigidity can be a
very challenging idea to comprehend. How one should present it to a young audience,
requires detailed investigation. It would appear that there is space for greater sensitivity in
3

exposing the child to the intricacies and subtleties of the caste system and dedicating more
space to the historical evolution of caste, varna and jati.
These aspects govern various cultural, political and religious aspects of our present. A more
thorough understanding of the complexity of an often simplified idea like caste can place the
young reader in a better position to understand the complexities of the political world which
are thrown at him/her in form of words like vote-bank politics, reservations, religious
reforms, Dalits, untouchability, etc. This would further develop in the young mind, a sense
of difficulty in understanding the world around them and making them come to terms with
the fact that not all questions might necessarily have a categorical answer.
Also engaging the student in an enquiry about caste would further help them develop an
understanding of issues like gender and violence. The idea is to expose them to a not so
perfectly sanitized and chaotic society of the past where caste as an institution influenced
society and was in turn influenced by it.
Thirdly, introducing caste in Political science text books and not giving it adequate space in
History texts, creates the superficial idea of remoteness and the very popular perception of
History being a mere chronological narration of past events. Broadening the space and
depth of analysis of a more contemporary issue like caste may help in changing this view.
Sound historical understanding of a politically and socially important issue would help the
young reader bring History to practice in their daily conversation and discussions, helping
them develop a historical imagination.
Fourth and perhaps the most important idea behind allowing the young reader to wallow in
not so clear water is to provide them agency. History writing and reading is a politically
significant and empowering tool. The child is seldom mentioned in history and the popular
idea is that making and writing history is the work of adults, to include the child in a more
active manner and not treating History in text book (at least) as a one way discourse would
help in giving a child a space to express their difficulties, which in my opinion is more
important than a perfectly written answer.
While stating these propositions, I am aware of the rather idealistic stand I seem to be
taking. History as a discipline itself stands in paradox to the idea of understanding it
through textbooks. Our past shapes our understanding of our present. It is for this very
reason that writing History for the future citizens of a young nation is an exercise which
requires great vigilance on part of the writers and on part of the targeted audience of this
writing.
Further, I am also aware that in a country where the ability to write ones name and basic
numeracy is what is defined as literacy and the fact that education receives alarmingly low
state attention, History to be recognized as an important aspect of education is far cry,
though this does not mean that it goes unnoticed in political and academic circles.
The New NCERT History textbooks published in 2006 mark a watershed in the effort of
bringing about positive changes in the popular perception of History however I believe that

it, along with other books of social sciences, needs to be revised perhaps more frequently
than it is, to keep pace with the rapidly changing composition of young audience.
The composition of young readers today has changed and is changing at a rapid pace, it is
adept with technology and more politically aware than their earlier counterparts,
biologically they are attaining maturity faster, it is necessary to shape and revise the
NCERT social science and in particular History textbooks to keep them involved otherwise
the stated purpose of making the reader aware of the working of the social world would
become ineffective if not redundant.
Conclusion
Giving more space to issues like caste would help the young reader come to terms with the
fact that the past is neither linear nor always reduceable to a cause and effect sequence. It
would help them empathise with marginalized groups and relate to issues of violence and
discrimination along lines of caste and gender. Also it would help them make sense of the
complexities of political, social and religious realities of contemporary India making the
subject as a whole one of contemporary significance. Further giving them scope for
understanding and making sense of a lived historical experience would provide the young
minds an agency in the process of making sense of the past, not always relying on the
written word alone but interpreting day to day happenings in light of their derived
knowledge to support or counter it.
While making such propositions, I admit that I am aware of the abstractness of the idea and
the paradox of hoping to make sense of History through textbooks. Clearly, the idea opens
up more questions than answer (if at all). It raises questions on how the student is to be
engaged. Matters of pedagogy and methodology, and the extremely industrious task of
writing about the most dynamic social institutions of the world in a manner which is lucid
and comprehensible to a young audience but yet not general or simplistic is a challenge
before academicians. I have tried to argue that there is scope for further thinking on the
issue.

Bibliography
Annual Report, NCERT, 2013-14. New Delhi: the publication division, NCERT, 2015.
Krishna, Kumar. Prejudice and Pride. New Delhi: Penguin Books India, 2001.
Our Pasts-I. New Delhi: the Publication Division, NCERT, 2013.
Our Pasts-II. New Delhi: the publication division, NCERT, 2013.Our Pasts-III. New Delhi:
the publication division, NCERT, 2013

Nayika: Her Evolution in Three Texts: A Gendered

Perspective
Shreya Dua
Womens hearts are hard, so enough flattery! Leave me alone!
He was told this whenever Hari tried to placate her.
(From Dhvanyaloka of Anandavardhana)
The word Nayika has come down to us to mean Heroine. Ludicrous, maudlin and wanton, she
is the paragon of beauty. Our perceptions imbue her with such fledgling characteristics, yet
there is a constant sense of allurement attached to her. Not always is she ingenious or
negative, sometimes she is venerable and intelligent. But then she ceases to be alluring; she
ceases to be heroine. Thus, either intrigue or sacrifice, the two extremes must constitute her
personality. It is only then that the word exhibits grandiose, a feature it has evoked for almost
two thousand years. The future seems as persistent. Therefore I choose to examine her nature
through a legacy left behind by ancient Indian authors. The sources for our study include
some of the most famous and impeccable works Mahabharatas Shakuntala, Kalidasas
Abhijnana-Shakuntalum and Jayadevas Gitagovinda as narratives. We use the
Natyashastra, and Kamasutra by Vatsyayana as authorities on the definition of a Nayika.
Our basic definition, characteristics and nature of the Nayika are obtained from the
Natyashastra.1 There are supposed to be four classes of heroines a goddess, a queen, a
woman of high family and a courtesan.
The eight kinds of Nayikas as explained by Manmohan Ghosh are Vasaksajja (one dressed
up for union), Virahotkanthita (one distressed by separation), Suadhina-bhartrka (one having
her husband subjected in her control), Kalahantarita (one separated by a quarrel), Khandita
(one enraged with her lover), Vipralabdha (one deceived by her lover), Prositabhartika (one
with a sojourning husband) and lastly Abhisarika (one who moves to her lover). The
Natyashastra states four causes of jealousy Depression (vaimanasya), Mixed Feelings
(vyalika), Disgust (vipriya) and Anger (manyu).
In the Mahabharata,2 Janamejaya requests and Vaishampayana begins the tale of the Puru
dynasty. Dushyanta is attracted to the hermitage and its beauty Shakuntala undergoes the
Gandharva marriage with him and he leaves, not recognizing her when she goes to him
with their progeny Sarvadamana until a divine voice orders him to accept the two. In
Abhijnana-Shakuntalum (Shakuntala and the Ring of Recollection) by Kalidasa,3 the story is
far more complex. Dushyanta marries Shakuntala and leaves after which a sage curses her.
Only the ring given to her by Dushyanta can resume his recollection, and this totem gets
lost on the way. She is therefore rejected and waits for the progeny to be born to redeem
1

The Natyashastra can be dated between the 200 BCE to 200 CE

The Mahabharata runs across a long time frame from the Later Vedic period till around 3 century C.E. This
span represents the transition from chiefdom to a state society. It is affiliated closely with the rise of the sixteen
Mahajanapadas.
3
Kalidasa was a court writer during the reign of Chandragupta II in the so-called Gupta period. He left his
imprint on Sanskrit literature in an unassailable manner and is supposed to have lived between the late 4 th and
early 5th century C.E.
2

her. The Menaka and several people and situations play a poignant role in bringing them
together. The play is divided into five acts.
Influencing the arts even today, the twelfth century poet Jayadevas work is one of the first
celebrations of Krishnas and Radhas intimacy1. Miller makes the reason behind the
excessive usage of the word Madhava clear2. No different is the meaning of the word Radha3
from that of Laxmi or Sri. The text is translated into twelve cantons that juggle between
the vicissitudes of amalgam, separation and the ultimate union between Krishna and Radha.
All the three narrative texts begin by extolling the position of the Nayaka. In both
Kalidasas work as well as Vyasas the Nayika makes a belated entry. The first line of Vyasa
introduces Dushyanta as the mighty hero and he is referred to as the thunderbolt wielder
himself. Kalidasa opens the curtain with the chase for the antelope as the king orders the
charioteer to slacken the reins. Jayadevas triumph in writing begins by representing the
Dashavataras of the God of Triumph coupled with other victories he is the suppressor of
Kalia, the vanquisher of Madhu, Mura and Naraka. Therefore, we notice a tendency to
commence by displaying the valour of the hero so that the Nayikas beauty can be
juxtaposed against it i.e. the Nayika is introduced in relation to the Nayaka. The first
description of Shakuntala in the Mahabharata is with reference to her flawless body, and
Her lips are fresh red buds, Her arms are tendrils marks her entry in Kalidasas text. This can
be seen as a means of finding a worthy girl for the hero rather than the other way round.
However Jayadeva after praising Krishna instantly begins the tale with the Nayaka and
Nayikas union. Krishna is most importantly the satisfier of Radha.
As Shakuntalas story continues, the Nayika welcomes Dushyanta alone to the hermitage
justifying her fathers absence in the Mahabharata version. But in Kalidasas play there are
multiplicities of characters huddled around her. Her voice precedes her entry, as she is in
conversation with her sakhis Anusuya and Priyamvada. In both Dushyanta experiences
love at first sight. The imagery of nature is replete in all three texts. Wood after wood was
crossed by the king in Abhijnana Shakuntalum, the serenity as well as the gurgling waters of
the Malini River were all too alluring for him. Vyasas version possesses least descriptivism.
As the chariot nears the grove, the beauty of the hermitage is described. Clouds then thicken
the sky, Tamala trees darken the forest. Thus begins the tale of the most passionate lover- Hari
with Sri. In Abhijnana Shakuntalam there is not only a tendency to personify nature but to
draw analogies thereby associating the Nayikas form with it. She personifies Forestlight a
jasmine creeper who choose as her source of vitality the mango tree. Kalidasa seeks pairs in
nature in order to address the beauty of marriage. The creeper creates the desire for a
companion in Shakuntala. The same tendency occurs in the Gitagovinda, but here even the
Nayaka is a part of the comparison with the non-human.
In order to approach the Nayika in Abhijnana Shakuntalum, a reason is sought. The king
seeks to find a way into the hermitage so as to court Shakuntala. The door opens by itself;
the sages demand protection from demons in the absence of Kanava. The professing of love
is a discrete activity. A lotus leaf provides material for a letter. The Nayikas nails etch the
words that she orates. Jayadevas work is not accustomed to this belief- Krishna and Radha
1

Jayadeva was one of the first poets to depict the physicality of love between Radha and Krishna rather than
merely looking at it as a distant metaphor of the union between the atman and parmatman.
2
The slayer of Madhu has been used several times by Jayadeva, yet its reference caters to a parallel meaning.
Springtime and honey both symbolize passion; thus Madhava, representing these two facets irrevocably
becomes the erotic lover. Aptly said it is that, Krishna is both the object of loves attack and the embodiment of
loves creative sensuality.
3
Radha is success and wealth of which Krishna is the lord.

are constantly admitting their profound attraction to the sakhi. Radhas depression is
conveyed to her sakhi. The sakhi takes back Krishnas words to Radha explaining that his
predicament is no different from the Nayikas. There exists mutuality. In Mahabharatas
Shakuntala this is not evident. We are unaware if Shakuntala is in love. For her the
lawfulness of the marriage overpowers the factor of love. Wishing to take Kanavas
blessings she gives in only when Dushyanta proclaims the Gandharva form of marriage to
be lawful. In this manner she is seen to possess intelligence and rationality. However,
Kalidasas Nayika is only known for her pulchritude. She is puerile and incapable of thinking
greatly. Vyasas Nayika is more than just intelligent; she is savage - laying down a fervent
condition that her son shall be the heir. The bargain is more on her side. Such an act would
be blasphemy for Kalidasas heroine.
The Nayika in all the texts is bestowed with a divine element. Shakuntala is factually a
nymph progeny in the stories whereas Radha has several times been referred to as Sri. But
in the Gita Govinda Krishna is undoubtedly divine. The same is not true of Dushyanta.
Shakuntala in Adi Parvan makes it very clear that she is of a higher order. This raises the
inevitable question of caste. The Nayika belongs to the higher caste on the paternal side; she
is now eligible for Dushyanta. The Gitagovinda has no mention of the term caste.
Separation is pivotal to all three texts. In the Mahabharata it has little significance. When it
was time for Shakuntala to take her son to his father, the separation came to a climax.
Kalidasa created the situation three times. Just as the lovers approach each other, Gautami
inquires upon Shakuntalas health and parting is destined. Having undergone the
Gandharva marriage with Shakuntala, Dushyanta leaves. The third separation is
Dushyantas rejection of Shakuntala. The Gitagovinda is the story of the gap of separation
between two unions. In these two texts the disposition of the Nayika suffering from lovesickness is nearing death. Wilted in love- Her cheeks are deeply sunken, Her waist is thin, Her
shoulders bent, And the colour has left the skin. She is, in fact, shown to be extremely frail and
weak. Dushyantas predicament is nowhere near Shakuntalas. Nature torments him, thus
overpowering his strength- Arrows of flowers and cool moon rays, Are both deadly for men like
me. Krishnas is close yet not close enough. He is craving for Radha as cool moon rays scorch
him. But in Radhas case Death may take her was no understatement.
Only the Abijnana Shakuntalum shows Shakuntalas departure from the hermitage as an
emotionally loaded sorrowful affair. Father cannot part with his jewel and friends cannot
part with their confidant. The hermitage will be hollow without its source of vitality; forest
light to the buck to the wild goose will all miss their life giver. In the time span between
Vyasa and Kalidasa, rules relating to the conduct of women were circulated. All of this was
woven within the endeavour to control the sexuality of women by creating barriers on their
mobility. Rules of conduct such as Kanavas instructions-Obey your elders, be a friend to other
wives! came to be in force. In Jayadevas work the forest is the backdrop of the poem - the
dark Tamala grove is an impeccable place for ardent lovers. This creates a sense of
abandonment and freedom. Also Jayadevas wife Padmavati was a devadasi or Mahari, who
supposedly danced to his works at Jagannath Puri. There were probably less restrictions on
her and on the women around Jayadeva, giving the Nayika the freedom to carve her own
path. A lesser yet similar freedom is available to Vyasas Shakuntala. She goes to
Dushyantas court unaccompanied and after releasing arrows of poisoned words with
intensity and velocity, turns back. She targets the flawed character of Dushyanta. However,
Kalidasas Nayika goes with an entourage and is submissively silent throughout the
discussion. Her begging is fruitless; both sides abandon her. She is rebuked for her
character. The stained Nayika has nowhere to go as Sarngarava says to the king-Since you
married her, abandon her or take her, Absolute is the power a husband has over his wife. If a Nayika
8

in a utopian play could be referred to as her husbands slave, the reality of society would
portray graver situations.
This rationale of calling husband- God represents the desire to instil divinity in a human
figure. But the Mahabharata attempts to humanize divine figures. Dushyantas rejection is
seen as a fallacy on his part - As the Nayika departs from the court, a voice demands
Dushyanta to accept and cradle his son, the son who saves him from Yama. In Gitagovinda
Krishnas puritan ways make him flawed, in the poem itself he seeks remorse - The winner
of hearts couldnt control his wonton ways, now it is he who is heartbroken, yearning for
the Nayika.
Divinity attached to the Nayika is not penultimate. Shakuntala is seen as a sagacious
character who not only speaks up but also fights. This is similar to the manner in which
Radha rebukes Krishna for spending time with the other woman observing various signs
on Krishna- Dark from kissing her kohl-black eyes. By the time Kalidasa creates Shakuntala, a
woman who speaks up for herself would be unthinkable. The epics Shakuntala is flawed in
another way. She uses her son rather than love as a weapon because she derives power from
motherhood. But the plays Nayika shall always be a wife before a mother.
At the end of Abhijnana Shakuntalum the Nayika forgives the Nayaka for not recognizing her.
Blaming him is far-fetched because of the presence of several third factors onto which the
blame could be transferred. Curse, luck and karma provide justification. But in the
Mahabharata it is the Nayaka who forgives the Nayika for her pugnacious words. So does
Krishna ask for Radhas forgiveness, thereby persuading her.
The happy ending of Vyasas tale can be for the most part wholly accredited to Shakuntalas
own efforts. Variegated factors such as friends, priests, and destiny help Kalidasas Nayika.
Emphasis is laid on penance rather than the effort to arrive to the ending. The Gitagovinda
also highlights penance, but efforts exist and are mutual.
Finally, sexual desire in Shakuntalas tale is clearly motivated by the need for a progeny, the
only claim that made her allegeable for respect. But in the Gitagovinda the aspect of sringar
is very strong. This often crosses the bounds of gender and divinity. In a state of delusion
for Krishna, Kamadeva is mirrored in Kama (love i.e. Radha). The Nayika assumes Madanas
embodiment as Hari describes Her arched brow is his bow, Her darting glances are arrows, Her
earlobe is the bow string. In the final canton the Nayaka verse-by-verse requests Radhika for
pleasure offer your lips nectar to revive a dying slave. So strong is the urge for intercourse.
With respect to the Natyashastra, Shakuntala is a woman of high family, who becomes a
queen and is born with a certain element of divinity. However interestingly Radha belongs
to none of the four classes of heroines as elucidated in the Natyashastra. Though she is
referred to as Sri, deification only occurs because of her association with Krishna.
Jayadeva has used almost all the types of Nayikas and complied the profiles diligently in the
Natyashastra. Careless Krishna, Tender Krishna as well as Indolent Krishna would refer to
Virahotkanthita, Cunning Krishna depicts Radha as Vipralabdha, Abashed Krishna is
invariably a Khandita Nayika, Languishing Krishna seems to be Kalahantarita in the form of
Radha, Blissful Krishna is arrived because Radha is Abhisarika, and lastly Ecstatic Krishna
is when Radha is Saudhina-bhartrka. In both Shakuntala tales she represents Virahotkanthita
Nayika, Vipralabdha Nayika and Khandita Nayika (when Shakuntala in Adi parvan reprimands
the Nayaka). The Gitagovinda depicts these more or less in conformity with the four causes

of jealousy. Depression and Anger in Abashed Krishna, and Mixed Feelings in Blissful
Krishna. Shakuntalas story evokes Disgust. The others are missing in both versions.
Thus we conclude that the Nayika was indeed an irresistible figure. Her evolution would be
as follows. During the compilation of the Mahabharata she represented the woman who
struggled yet was powerful enough to exercise her voice. Kalidasa enriched her with far
more beauty but kept her tied in the shackles of patriarchy. However Jayadeva gave her a
distinctive and emancipated form. This form was closer to her character in the Mahabharata
rather than Abhijnana Shakuntalum. We notice how Jayadeva complied fully to the
Natyashastra while Vyasa was least influenced. This is probably because the Mahabharata
precedes the Natyashastra. But that is not reason enough as almost all the texts were in
circulation centuries before they were committed to writing. Overlapping is thus a common
phenomenon; the same can be said for the concept of the Nayika. She absorbs various
elements from the past and present social contexts and profoundly influences the current as
well as the future of whichever period she is born in.

Bibliography
Thapar, Romila. Shakuntala: Texts, Readings and Histories. Columbia University Press,
2011.
Translated and Edited by Buitenen, J. A. B. van. The Mahabharata: The Book of the
Beginning. Revised edition, University Of Chicago Press, 1980.
Miller, Barbara Stoller. Love Song of the Dark Lord- Jayadevas Gitagovinda (Translations
from the Asian Classics). 20th Anniversary Edition, Columbia University Press, 1998.
Sinha, Indra. The Love Teachings of Kama Sutra: With Extracts from Koka Shastra, Anaga
Ranga and Other Famous Indian Works on Love. De Capo Press, 1996.
Ghosh, Manmohan. The Natyashastra (English Translation) Volume I. Manish Granthalaya,
1967.

10

Japanese Influence in the Creation of Swadeshi Art in

Early 20th Century Bengal
Tara Vidisha Ghose
High art in the 1900s in Calcutta became intertwined in larger debates on the western
influence on Indian art and on ways of asserting a more distinct India-ness. As a result of
these, Calcutta in this period witnessed what scholars see to be as the first nationalist art
movement in India, led by Abanindranath Tagore. In the creation of this new swadeshi school
of art, there were attempts to shake off the naturalist principles that were brought in through
colonial art education and to build up on a so-called authentic Indian aesthetics and
values. Following several experiments of reviving Mughal art traditions, Abanindranath
Tagore found the assertion of a unique art style of his own through incorporation of
Japanese artistic techniques and ideas. Set against the backdrop of strong debates regarding
what exactly constituted swadeshi art, often laying emphasis on perceptions of what
comprised the essence of India, the critical acclamation of Abanindranaths new style of
painting appears to be an interesting phenomenon, especially given that it built up on
influences that were not strictly Indian at all. In the light of the aforementioned, this essay
attempts to locate the important role played by Japanese art styles in the creation of
swadeshi art, against the context of the debates regarding what exactly constituted swadeshi
art, along with the close relationship between Abanindranath and Okakura, and his students.

1. Artistic Exchanges between Abanindranath Tagore, Kakuzo Okakura, Yokoyama

Taikan and Hishida Shunso
Abanindranath first came to be influenced by Japanese art through his contacts with Kakuzo
Okakura, an internationally noted scholar and art expert, when the latter first travelled to
India in 1902. After Okakura returned to Japan in 1903, he sent his foremost students,
Yokoyama Taikan and Hishida Shunso to the Tagore household at Jorasanko. The presence
of these two artists had a profound influence on Abanindranaths work, and vice versa.
Abanindranath came to be strongly influenced by Taikans wash technique and the gentle
use of the brush adopted these techniques to his own watercolours. The liberal use of water
to moisten the page provided an expressive haziness to the paintings, lending them a
melancholic mood, which appealed to Abanindranath strongly1. Further, Abanindranath felt
that colours had the ability to capture deeper emotions, in opposition to lines, which were
seen to be stifling due to their role in demarcating boundaries and defining shapes. The
manifestation of his views on the power of colour and influence of the techniques of the
Japanese artists is strongly visible in his subsequent works, such as The Yaksas Lament,
Sita in Captivity, Diwali and Bharat Mata.

Strongly influenced by Western ideas of Romanticism, Abanindranath wanted to freely express emotions or
bhavain his paintings. In fact, one of the main reasons that he wanted to move away from painting Mughal
miniature style paintings was because Mughal artists did not prioritize this element of bhava.

11

Though the techniques that Abanindranath Tagore learned from Okakura, Taikan and
Shunso were strongly reflected in his art, the subjects painted were often tied to what was
seen to be Indian iconography and themes, such as Hindu gods and goddesses and historical
scenes. These subjects came to have influenced the work of Shunso and Taikan, who painted
scenes from the Ram-Leela and goddesses like Saraswati and Kali. Though the paintings
used Hindu iconography, they were painted using the blurred colour washes that these
Japanese artists were known for.
These exchanges between AbanindranathTagore,Taikan and Shunso tied these artists
together to a point when the distinctions between Indian and Japanese art blurred to create
a new Oriental style, centered on the use of the wash. The wash lent a sense of
romanticism, melancholy and mystery born of a blurriness of colourand form. The most
noted painting of this style was Abanindranaths Banga Mata, which became Bharat Mata
and came to be seen as the personification of the idea of the Indian nation.
2. Ideological Background
2.1 The Japanese Context
This phenomenon of artistic exchanges between Abanindranath Tagore, Yokoyama Taikan
and Hishida Shunso are especially significant against the specific backgrounds of Japan and
India in this period. These provide an explanation as to why Japanese influences persisted in
the paintings of Abanindranath Tagore and his disciples and played an important role in the
creation of swadeshi art.
Unlike India, Japan in the turn of the 20th century was not a colony. However, the opening
up of the country in the Meiji period saw the entry of western influence in the artistic and
cultural spheres, leading to conscious efforts to move away from traditional Japanese
aesthetics to those driven by western principles of art. In this way, the condition of Japanese
art bore similarities with that of India, which too was heavily influenced by western art
values. While on one hand, art in Meiji Japan strongly attempted to emulate Western
artistic techniques and aesthetics, on the other hand, there were strong attempts at
expressing a distinct Japanese identity. Thus, the Meiji era ushered in the formation of two
new schools of painting: The Yoga and Nihoga schools.
The Yoga or European oil painting school was the dominant school of art in Meiji Japan
and received strong support from the government. It used western techniques of depiction
of form through the use of shading, which was a feature that was absent in traditional
Japanese painting. The diminishing of traditional Japanese culture under the strong
influence of westernization and increasing modernization lead to feelings of anxiety among
some sections of artists, leading to the emergence of the Nihoga painting school or the
Japanese painting school. This was a neo-traditional school of art, established to counter
the rising influence of the Yoga school.
Okakura was an important figure tied to the Nihoga School and the Nippon Bijutsuin1 and
was recognized as one of the foremost authorities on Oriental art and archaeology. In his
book, The Ideals of the East, he expressed ideas of a pan-Asian civilization that tied together
the ideals of an integrated Asia towering above the materialism of the West. This idea was a
welcomed source of nationalist pride in India, especially since the India of the Vedas was
1

Okakura was one of the 40 artists who broke away from the Imperial Art School to form the Nippon Bijutsuin,
which became the focal point of the efforts to re-nationalise traditional Japanese art.

12

upheld as the motherland of Asiatic religion and thought. Further, Okakura laid emphasis
on the ideals expressed by Buddhist art and revered India to be the origins of these ideas.
Along with building a picture of an integrated Asia, Okakura defined an independent
position for Japan and celebrated her as the only Asian country to have effectively upheld
her traditions and resisted Western domination, thus placing her in the special position of
the new Asiatic power. Through contacts with the Tagore family, Okakura was able to
gain support for these ideas, pushing forward a shared Pan-Asian identity and raising Japan
as a source of inspiration. Thus, the interaction of Okakura and his students with
Abanindranath Tagore and their subsequent influence on swadeshi art in early 20th century
Bengal had ideological implications, apart from being a technical and aesthetic shift. This
becomes especially evident when one notes that Okakuras views entered Bengal when
discussions on what constituted Indian art were already in place and were shaping the idea
of swadeshi art.
2.2 The Indian Context: The Conceptualization of Swadeshi Art
Okakuras visit to India occurred at a time when Orientalist views had begun to lead the
way for a new interpretation of Indian art and aesthetics. Two key views on Orientalism in
India were put forth by E.B. Havell and A.K. Coomaraswamy, who moved away from the
bias that dominated the European understanding of Indian art, as reflected in the colonial
policy of art education. Havell was critical of the lack of emphasis given to Indian art in the
art education curriculum in Bengal and challenged the importance given to European art
ideas. This orientalist view came from a place of British paternalism which was seeking to
prevent the obliteration of the exotic orient under the influence of European ideas.
In the turn of the 20th century, Havells ideas regarding Indian art strongly opposed what
he called British Philistinism and the ways in which it had proven to be detrimental to the
development of authentic Indian art. Underlying his argument was the clear equation of
Indian art with Hindu art, which was seen to have carried within it deeper spiritual meaning
which could not be appreciated by the West because of the latters inability to move beyond
physical decorative qualities. The elusive spirituality of Indian art was thus seen to be its
strongest quality, representing the deeper essence of nationalism and the larger struggle of
the Orient against the Occident.
The Orientalist definition of Indian art favoured Abanindranaths new school of art in
opposition to Indian academic art and highlighted its role in constructing the nation. The
art of the latter was rejected and Raja Ravi Verma was replaced with Abanindranath Tagore
as the poster boy of Indian art. A distinction was drawn between the works of these two
artists on the grounds that painting historical and mythological subjects was not enough.
The treatment of the paintings had to be in consonance with the higher ideals and spiritual
values they represented.
In this context, the Academic realism of artists was condemned as low imitations of
European standards, reflecting scenes and emotions in a way that ignored the deeper values
of India. In contrast to Verma, Abanindranath was upheld for his creativity and imagination
and the depth of emotion he incorporated in his art. These qualities were emphasized
through his use of Japanese techniques, which filled them with a deeper emotional and
spiritual meaning, ostensibly consonant to the ideals of Hinduism as understood by Havell
and Sister Nivedita. Hence, the use of Japanese techniques brought out the authentic
Indian voice in his paintings, allowing them to conform to the idealistic concept of swadeshi
art.
13

3. Conclusion: Linking Ideologies

In tying together the Japanese context with that of Bengal, a direct link is drawn in the
writings of Sister Nivedita.1 After reading Okakuras Ideals of the East, Sister Nivedita
underlined Indias role as the source of religion and thought in Asia, attributing Japans
strength to the strengthening of Indian values in Japanese culture. She held that the process
of the dissemination of Buddhism from India to China and Japan was repeating itself in
Hinduism through Swami Vivekanandas powerful speech in the Parliament of World
Religions in Chicago in 1893. Her view reflects an attempt to incorporate the values
underlying Japanese awakening into the gamut of Hinduism. Though the attempt to
attribute Japanese strength to India was not one that was widely held, these are several
other factors that could reconcile the Japanese and Bengali contexts, thereby making it an
aesthetically and ideologically meaningful combination.
The incorporation of Japanese techniques in swadeshi art needs to be seen in the specific
context of Abanindranath Tagore. Nephew of Rabindranath Tagore, Abanindranath grew
up in the intellectually open-minded environment of the illustrious Tagore household
situated in Jorasanko. From childhood, he was aware of debates on nationalism due to the
Tagore association with the Hindu Mela along with the influence of Rabindranath Tagore
who was in the forefront of the swadeshi movement in Bengal. This predisposition played an
important role in building Abanindranaths partnership with Havell, which proved to be
vital in the growth of the new nationalist art movement. Havell played a major role in
exposing Abanindranath to the artistic past of India, including Mughal paintings, which,
under the grip of European aesthetics had come to be heavily undermined in India. Through
the study of Mughal art, Tagore came to regard it with newfound admiration and soon
incorporated it in his own art style. However, though the revival of Mughal painting was a
step towards discovering a swadeshi voice, it did not prove to be enough. This was partly
because the expression of emotions was never a part of Mughal art- a condition that went
against what Abanindranath was searching for in attempting to express his artistic voice.
The beauty of Mughal painting thus became valued solely as a tool to celebrate the richness
of Indias artistic past.
In his endeavour to develop a more swadeshi voice, Abanindranath found a solution to his
problem in the art of Japan. This was due to his close interaction with Taikan, Shunso and
Okakura, which helped in the development of his wash technique that brought in deeper
expressive qualities in his paintings. This effect lent an ostensibly spiritual dimension to the
religious and historical themes that Abanindranath Tagore painted, raising the value of the
emotions and deeper ideas that lay within his artwork.
In the context of the views of Sister Nivedita, Coomaraswamy and Havell, the effects
created by Abanindranath Tagore were interpreted to have brought out Hindu ideals and
spiritual values that were seen to be the essence of authentic Indian art. His paintings
retained the link with tradition in the themes they painted but put these forward in an
original and imaginative way. Further, tying it together with the views of Okakura and the
creation of the Oriental style through his interactions with Taikan and Shunso,
Abanindranaths style became a part of a larger pan-Asian aesthetic and ideal that
1

Sister Nivedita was another key figure who determined the conception of Swadeshi art in Bengal in this period.
An Irish disciple of Swami Vivekananda, her ideas on art and nationalism drew heavily from the Swamis
teachings and preached the harnessing of Hindu spirituality to build nationalism. Her views played a key role in
emphasizing the role of Hindu spirituality in shaping Swadeshi art.

14

reconciled the struggle of the orient against the occident. Thus, the aesthetic that the
incorporation of Japanese techniques lent to Abanindranaths art were strongly linked to the
larger ideological contexts of art in Japan and Bengal, lending it greater power and
acceptance as a new art movement, regarded by some scholars as the first Swadeshi art
movement of India.

Bibliography
Mitter, Partha. Art and Nationalism in Colonial India, 1850-1922: Occidental Orientations.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994.
Guha-Thakurta, Tapati.The Making of a New Indian Art: Artists, aesthetics and nationalism
in Bengal, c. 1850-1920. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007.
Shigemi, Inaga. The Interaction of Bengali and Japanese Artistic Milieus in the First Half of
the Twentieth Century (19011945): Rabindranath Tagore, Arai Kanpo, and Nandalal Bose.
Japan Review 21 (2009): 149-181.

15

Tattoos: Visual Language

Nikita Sharma
The following paper is a survey of the tradition of tattoos in North and North-Eastern India.
They formed a part of the various modes of communication among people belonging to a
culture as also with the spiritual and the other world. I collected part of the information used
here through personal interviews. I have kept in mind the limitation of this mode of data
collection. However, even with the limited data, the paper attempts to discuss the various
implied and direct meanings of these bodily symbols.

Tattoo is believed to be an art of marking skin with indelible designs by making punctures
in it and inserting pigment. In tribal societies, tattoos are not just an art form but a part of
their existence, identity and culture. From olden times this practice of tattooing has been
prevalent in almost all cultures in the world at some point of time and the meanings that
they convey are subject to the socio-cultural, economic and sometimes political conditions.
In some cultures, tattoos were used to mark the social rank of the person or important
milestones of their life whereas, in others, it might be a mark of bravery, beauty or
spirituality of the person. Alternatively, it could also be seen as a mark of ones
tribal/kinship affiliations or signify ones status in a relationship, e.g. a seal of slavery. In
certain cultures, they are also believed to have therapeutic and medicinal functions. Still,
people bearing traditional tattoos might often be seen as primitive. The purpose of this
essay is to question this belief and to bring to notice the complexities of traditional tattoos in
northern and north-eastern India.
In 18th century, Captain James Cook went on a voyage to explore the Polynesian triangle
and he was impressed by the art form and coined the word Tattoo to denote it.1
The earliest evidence for tattoos can be dated back to 3300 BC on an iceman named Otzi as
it was found in Alpine Oetz valley. Fifty-eight markings were found on his body, mainly on
the acupuncture points. This suggests a medicinal purpose of tattooing. Other pieces of
evidence can be found from ancient Egypt, wherein certain patterns on statues of goddesses
are clearly visible. Steve Gilbert believed that these might have had carnal functions. Similar
patterns could be seen in ancient Japanese clay figurines. However, those particular dots and
lines were believed to have spiritual associations.2
Tattoos have been regarded as a part of multi-literacies that predate written mode of
communication. They are a visual mode of representation that carry with them deep
emotions and beliefs. Deciphering these encoded meanings requires some amount of

Tattoo is a distorted form of the Tahitian word tatau.

John A. Rush, "scarification and tattooing:a cultural history of pain." In spiritual tattoo: a cultural history of
tattooing, piercing, scarification, branding and implants, by John A Rush. (frog books, 2005).
2

16

knowledge or of the culture within which they are embedded.1 Many times, however, they
convey messages that can be read without knowing the language or culture or the actual
meaning. According to Bell and Valentine,2 a body decorated with tattoos is a political
statement because it causes actions and counter-actions from the state as forces within and
outside the individual struggle for power and control. This doesnt mean that tattoos
remain confined to individual or state. In some cultures, it tends to define the social
standing and economic background, ethnicity, group membership, gender and ritual
conditions of the people. Christopher B. Steiners article, Body Personal and Body Politic3,
is useful in bringing out the link between the practices of tattooing in Polynesia and its
political structure. According to Sahlins,4 political leadership in Polynesia is characterized
by centralized chiefdoms that rule over vast areas. The leader is at the pinnacle and social
structure is typified by fixed hierarchies and little social mobility. Since the art of tattooing
is associated with permanency thus, is best suited to the political system characterized by
fixed hierarchy. That is why, in Polynesian islands, tattoos held a very prominent place. In
Marquesas Islands particular form of tattoos indicated rank and tribal affiliations. Also, it
was an expensive deal thus only better off people would get it where a special house for the
occasion was built. In Hawaii, tattoos differentiated between men and slaves. Designs of
small bands and stripes were restricted to people of high status and tattoos from knees to
waist in solid black were for people of lower status. This art reached its highest and most
sophisticated form in Maori where it is called moko. Chiefs had more elaborate and intricate
designs which were their prerogative. Slaves were branded with tattoo marking on their
back which was called papa.
The practice of tattooing is called gudna/ godna in India. There are very few written
records or texts relating to the subject and the ethnographic data is not very extensive. The
only records that can be found were the census reports of colonial period. In todays time,
the practice has largely been condemned by the urban people for being primitive. This is
one reason that this tradition is never recorded properly and has gone extinct in many
parts. Indigenous people are aware that tattoos identify them as tribal and hence they are
seen with contempt5. With regard to tattoos in India, Lars Krutaks research remains the
main vantage point.
In 20th century south India, the kolam6 patterns resembled the labyrinth found on rock art in
Goa (2500BC). These kolam patterns were chosen because they were believed to have a
protective function. The belief was that these intricate designs were like puzzle for Yama
and his demons. They could not harm the tattooed person because they wont be able to

Jennifer Deepti, "Tattoos, the power of ink." In Multiliteracies: Beyond text and the written word, by Amanda
Goodwin , Miriam lipsky, Sheree Sharpe Eugene F. Provenzo, (IAP, 2011), 41.
2
Cited in Eugene, Multiliteracies: Beyond text and the Written Word, 43.
3
This article focuses on various forms of body adornments like tattooing, body painting, scarification etc and
concludes that in different cultures, these forms are correlated with the types of political leadership.
4
Cited in Steiner, Body Personal and Body Politic, 432.
5
Lars Krutak, India: land of Eternal Ink, http://vanishingtattoo.com/india_tattoo_history.htm (accessed on
October 15, 2015).
6
Kolams were like rangoli drawn at the threshold of the house. They are associated with fertility, protection
and apotropaic functions.

17

solve the puzzle and rendered powerless. Most of the people believed that tattoos had a
relation and bearing upon ones after-life.
Tattoos were also used to cure certain diseases. Some tribes in Jharkhand believe that
tattoos keep their organs healthy and others believe that bearing mark on forehead
promotes safe delivery in child-birth. Symbols such as scorpion, cobra, bee, spider, etc. are
regarded as protective charms. Symbol of Spider is believed to have power to cure leprosy.
Whereas signs of luck were swastika, lotus, fish, triangle, etc. In India, caste also came to
play a role in determining the tattoo that one could get or rather; tattoo indicated the caste
and sometimes profession of the bearer. The spindle caste women would have the symbols
that have a resemblance with a spindle. The milkmaids (who were generally five in number)
are represented together as five straight lines. People bearing this tattoo would belong to
goval or ahir caste. Same way, Rajput women were generally identified by the tattoo of a
warrior on horseback. Symbols of camel, needle, and sieve clearly denoted the bearer as a
caravan member/ trader, cobbler and farmer respectively.
In Hindu tradition, as recorded in 1910, there were legends associated with the custom.1
Tradition attributes the practice of tattooing to the times of Sita as the fear of abduction of
women let them to mark tattoos which would help them recognize the women. According to
another tradition, Vishnu is believed to have tattooed the figure of his weapons, sun, moon
and tulsi plant on the hands of Lakshmi to protect her from enemies during wars. Other
traditions are associated with Krishna. In a personal interview with Santosh (on 15 th
October 15), I got a few lines of a bhajan which portrays Krishna as a tattoo artist mostly
for women though. A few lines of it are.sheesh par kirwade mere shri girdhari re,
Maathe pe likh de mere madan murari re,
..naasika pe likh de nandlal,
..haathan pe likh de haldhar ji ko bhaiya re..2
Among the Baiga tribes of Madhya Pradesh, both men and women got tattoos. However,
the practice among men died. It was an expensive thing to get too many tattoos. Having
extensive tattoos became marker of ones economic status. Here, tattoos were also
considered a form of sexual expression and desire. A Baiga once said, When she is well
tattooed, our sinful eyes declare her beautiful... Baiga tattoos were thus linked to
beautification purposes as well. Girls got tattooed at different ages like once when they are
seven or eight years, and then after they have puberty, marriage, etc. They also believed in
magical and medicinal powers of tattoos to purify blood and cure arthritis.
Some tribes like Baiga, Bhumias, Khonds, et al believe that tattoos have magical powers to
protect them from real and spiritual dangers. Here tattoos work in the same way as
1

Krutak, India: Land of Eternal Ink. 2.

This bhajan basically shows that Radha got her whole body tattooed with different names of Krishna which
shows prevalence of this practice among the people in large numbers, who might belong to lower or upper
sections of the society.
2

18

talismans. Narendra Kumar, aged 50 years from Rajasthan has a tattoo of a trishul and om
on his wrist. He believes that this shows his religious inclination and this way he feels quiet
close to God, as if deriving power and strength from Him. Another belief in India is that
tattoo marks are the only possessions that the person can take in their afterlife, everything
else is left here. So tattoos become a part of their soul. A Bhumia woman says, If we die and
dont have any markings then we will not have anything of beauty to show in afterlife. We
are tattooed to show Bhagwan something that will please him. The Chang women of
Nagaland have particular tattoo for forehead and they could only tattoo their faces and no
other part of the body. The particular design on the forehead was the common symbol that
would allow their ancestors to recognize the woman after she has died and this tattoo would
work as a currency in her afterlife.
Tattoos were also identified with bravery, manhood, warrior spirit and honor. Among the
Naga tribes the practice of head hunting remained an important identity marker and as a
method of asserting greater power over the other tribes. After the coming of Christianity,
the practice of tattooing has died out and in 1953 the government banned the practice of
head hunting which was closely linked to tattooing tradition. The ceremonies and patterns
for men were very different. Those who brought the enemy heads and actually participated
in the battle would get what the Khiamniungan tribe calls the tiger chest tattoo. Other
tribes believe that having this tattoo was an honorable matter as only those who had taken
the life of enemy could get the chest tattoo and that too only the queen of the tribe could
make it. For the Wancho Nagas, men who took head of enemy could get the prestigious face
tattoos.
Tattoos in some regions have close relation to secular matters or to devotional aspects of a
tribe, group or an individual. The men of the Mer tribe of Gujarat were not extensively
tattooed but had particular motifs made on the back of their hand, wrist or right shoulder.
These motifs could include Rama, Krishna, feet of Lakshmi, Hanuman, Om, Camel, Scorpio,
Bee or could include symbols of Coconut, Champa leaves etc. The popularity of Hindu gods
like Rama, Krishna and symbol of Om in Hindi point to the gradual Hinduisation of these
tribes.1 However, for the girls of Mer tribe, getting tattoos was a compulsion just as it was
for women of most other tribes. A Mer girl would get tattoo at important points of her life
like attaining puberty, marriage etc. it was especially important to get tattoo before
marriage. If the girl didnt have a tattoo, the in-laws would say that the girl has been sent to
them like a man. The favourite design of Mer girls was hansali. Mer men believed that
women with tattoos were faithful.
In north, north-western India, it was compulsory for women to get tattoos. The dot or a
mole was put to protect the bearer from evil eye, and if combined with the crescent moon, it
signified a loving pair. The five dots represented Pandavas (domestic harmony). The nine
planets or nav grahas were believed to influence the destiny of the person. Eight dotted
pattern represented lotus, symbol for Lakshmi, goddess of wealth. Tattoos for women were
related to beautification and sexuality; ideas of afterlife which was prevalent in almost all
regions; strength and good health; to mark the puberty, marriage, luck; spiritual well-being
1

Krutak, India: Land of Eternal ink, 4.

19

etc. The motif of fish and triangle were the signs of fertility. From Mirzapur, Uttar Pradesh,
Baby (40 years old), Ranno (50 years old), Sita (45 years old), Rukmini (58 years old), and
Chunni (40 years old) talked about the compulsion that they face from the in-laws to get
tattoos (personal communication, 13th July15). In these areas, the in-laws will not even
accept water from them if they dont have tattoo. In Rajasthan, most of the women used to
have the name of their husbands and villages tattooed on their hands along with sun, moon,
flower, etc. This was a sign of a dedicated wife. The Chang women had a legend associated
with the forehead tattoo. These people believed that long ago, their village was flooded due
to breach of a taboo and it was inflicted upon them as a punishment. In order to save the
village, a maiden sacrificed her life and the deity responsible for the flood promised that the
water would recede if the women of the tribe got that mark on their foreheads. It was also
believed to have frightened tigers.
Tattoo artists were predominantly women. In most of the North and North-western parts
of India, these tattoo makers belonged to wandering tribes like Vagharis and Nats. They
were generally nomadic people. However in some cases, they might belong to the lower
sections of the society who were settled in the periphery of the village. There is a stark
contrast in the background of tattoo artists in these parts and those of north-eastern parts
of India. Among the Naga tribes like Chang or Wanchos, only the queen of the tribe could
make the tattoo on the headhunter warrior. A day for tattooing was decided through
divination rituals and then feasts followed. As remuneration, the queen would receive
various items at different stages of the operation. Men were not allowed to witness the
ceremony or process of tattoo making in any of the tribes, if they did, then it was believed
that the girl would be punished in after-life. The tattoo artists of Ao Nagas were old women
and the knowledge of tattoo making was hereditary in female line and if the girl didnt learn
the art then it was believed that her life would be full of problems.
The whole process of tattooing was very time-consuming and painful. It could last long for
three to four days. These were made through a rudimentary machine. The design was
stencilled on the body part and then pattern was hammered upon softly on the skin. In
many areas, the woman artist would sing folk songs or nursery rhymes to disregard the
pain. However, now the whole custom has changed with the coming of electronic machines
and due to change in belief systems. Sheyili, who belongs to Sumi tribe of Atoizu region, in
a personal communication on 29th June15 provided first-hand information about the
extinction of their traditional practice of tattooing. With the coming of Christianity, this
tradition is looked down upon and these people were treated as different from the other
people and she is the first Christian convert of her region and hence, doesnt bear a tattoo
herself. Medical science has highlighted the side-effects of tattoos which also worked
towards the negative attitude toward the art form. These tattoo designs are either replaced
by the modern patterns or have disappeared completely. Nowadays, these tattoo artists are
majorly men and they can be found in almost all weekly and monthly fairs. Along with the
technique, the whole composition of tattoo makers is changing.
As we have seen, tattoos are a part of complex ways through which humans try to
communicate and forge a relationship with the environment and the ancestral and spiritual
worlds. An aspect which held my attention was the gendering of tattoos among the tribes
20

and the compulsion over women to bear them. Their sexuality, beauty, obligations, etc. are
marked by these tattoos. We get a sense of variety of rich tattoo traditions in India that date
back to thousands of years which communicate through social and bodily rituals, the
relationship of humans with society and their belief in the other world.

Bibliography
Diptee, Jennifer. Tattoos, the power of ink. In Multiliteracies: Beyond text and the written
word, by Amanda Goodwin, Miriam lipsky, Sheree Sharpe Eugene F. Provenzo, 41-42. IAP,
2011.
Rush, John A. Scarification and Tattooing: A cultural history of pain. In spiritual tattoo: a
cultural history of tattooing, piercing, scarification, brading and implants, by John A Rush.
frog books, 2005.
Steiner, Christopher B. Body Personal and Body Politic. Antropos, Bd.85, H.4./6.
(1990):431-445
Krutak, Lars. India: the land of Eternal Ink. vanishingtattoo. 2009. Web.
http://vanishingtattoo.com/india_tattoo_history.htm. (Accessed on October15, 2015).
Barbajosa, Cassandra-Franklin. Tattoo: Pigments of Imagination. NationalGeographic.
December, 2004. Web. http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/04/12/online_extra.html.
(Accessed on June 17, 2015).
Demello, Margo. The Convict Body: Tattooing among Male American Prisoners.
Anthropology
Today
Vol.9,
No.6
(December,
1993):10-13.
Web.
http://www.jstor.org/stable/2783218. (Accessed on July 1, 2015).
Krutak, Lars. Razzouks: Tattooing for 700 Years. larskrutak. 2015. Web.
http://larskrutak.com/the-razzouks-tattooing-for-700-years/ (Accessed on June 16,2015).
West,Tiffany. The Taboo of Tattoos: Changes in Body art during the New Deal and the
World War II. Web. http://www.ju.edu/jrad/documents/tiffanyw.pdf (Accessed on June 23,
2015).
TEDx Talks. The Cultural Heritage of Tattooing| Lars Krutak. youtube. August 12, 2015.
web. www.youtube.com/watch?v=FdXU-Zg9pcM (Accessed on November 1, 2015).
Skinsmods. Wancho Naga Tattoo of India. YouTube. April 23, 2013. web.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=G34w-YF4xz8 (Accessed on July, 28, 2015).

21

The Representation of the Qutub in Popular Culture

and Modern Historiography
Niyati Gangwar
Ignorance is the first requisite of the historian, ignorance which simplifies and clarifies,
which selects and omits.-Lytton Strachey
Ignorance, whether intentional or unintentional, conscious or unconscious has led to the
tainting of historical narratives which in turn has indelibly affected our perceptions about the
past and our engagement with it. Through this essay we seek to explore how this ignorance
when applied to tangible symbols of immense historical importance manifests itself in
creation of a memory that is skewed and does not serve to do justice to the events that it seeks
to commemorate. It is in this context that we will study how the representation of the Qutub
as a monumental complex, has been tarnished by a problematic historical narrative which is
in imminent need of questioning and critiquing.

Abounding in general knowledge books as the tallest tower in India, now facing tough
competition from high rise buildings steeped in urbanization but still holding face, the Qutub
Minar continues to evoke a response of awestruck wonder from tourists, students and
historians alike. Built in the last decade of the twelfth century, this grandiose minaret is
appreciated for its breath-taking demeanour, elaborate balconies and intricately carved
structure. However an equally imposing structure situated next to the Qutub Minar and an
essential part of the Qutub Complex, the striking Masjid I-Jami mosque does not enjoy the
similar undivided appreciation and glory as the minar. Through the course of this essay, we
seek to enquire into the selective representation of the minar as an architectural marvel in
popular culture with the consequent exclusion of the Masjid I-Jami mosque. We shall delve
deeper into the historiographical debate surrounding the Masjid I-Jami referred to as
Quwwat ul Islam the representative of the enforcement of Islamic authority over the so
called infidel population, the controversy regarding its structure which was built with
remains of materials plundered from Hindu and Jain temples and the implications of such a
narrative on popular mind-sets and judgements.
We will also be exploring the role played by the guide-book provided by the Archaeological
Survey of India (ASI), titled Qutb Minar and Adjoining Monuments available at the site of
the monument itself in reinforcing a problematic narrative. The text has been constructed
by amalgamating works of scholars on medieval architecture, Islam and Indian history. It
provides quite a confrontational perspective between the Hindu and Islamic communities
and assumes their character as essentially monolithic as evident from the introduction
provided here:

22

When the turbulent forces of Islam swept into the Indo-Gangetic plains at the end of the 12th century,
it was an encounter of two opposing cultures. Islam was a younger religion, more pragmatic than the
ancient and well-settled Hindu religious order of India.
As in philosophy, so in architecture, the two faiths were diametrically opposed. Both drew their
architectural precepts from laid-down norms-scriptural in the case of Islam and bound by convention
in the case of Hinduism. Beyond that, they were completely different.
The earliest mosques in the subcontinent were austere, making allowances only for scriptural
inscriptions and geometric patterns, while the temple celebrated creation, its walls vibrant with
images of divine, human, animal and plant life. In form and feature, the lucidity and economy of
Islamic architectural expression was posited against the richness and exuberance of Hindu art.
The first point of contact between the two forces was one of friction. Fired by religious zeal, the
soldiers of Islam set about destroying and despoiling the symbols and structures of the other.
This destruction, historians agree, is the reason for the absence of Hindu monuments in the upperGangetic plain, especially around Islamic centres such as Delhi and Ajmer.
The text reinforces the belief that the stark differences between the two religions
manifested into two distinct architectural styles which had exceptionally perceptible
differences. It also establishes at the disposal of the reader the view that Islam had a
tradition of engaging in plunder and destroying other religious symbols, in the context of
which it interprets the Masjid I-Jami consisting of columns plundered from twenty seven
Hindu and Jain temples.
The construction of the Masjid I-Jami was begun in 1191-92 CE by Qutubuddin Aibak,
commander of the army of Mohammad Ghori and founder of the Delhi Sultanate. Column
shafts, bases and capitals of different sizes with Shaivite, Vaishnavite and Jains motifs with
each other (ranging from sculpted figures, lotus flowers, bells and chains to kalasa vessels
sprouting flower creepers, a brahmanical motif of abundance and overflowing prosperity)
were placed upon each other to attain a uniform height of the roof with not great concern
for symmetry, also reiterated by the guide.
Since the presence of plundered material from Hindu temples within a Muslim mosque is
unmistakeable, the Masjid confirms images of Islamic iconoclasm and fanaticism; it
resurrects memories of communal distinctions and strife which almost every Indian regards
as a part of his countrys social history. 1
We shall now delve into the historiographical debate which has crystallized the
understanding that has made its way into the ASI guide. The first scholar to make a detailed
study of the epigraphs and architectural form of the Qutub complex was Sayyid Ahmad
Khan. He was one of the most prominent cultural figures of the Muslim community in 19 th
century India. He is best remembered as an activist for Indian Muslim education and for
founding the first secular Muslim educational institute on the Subcontinent the
Sunil Kumar, Qutb and Modern Memory, in The Partitions of Memory: The Afterlife of the Division of India,
Suvir Kaul, Indiana University Press, 2002, p. 141.
1

23

Muhammadan Anglo-Oriental College in Aligarh (now Aligarh University). Before all these
achievements, however, he began his career as a young Muslim academic in 1846 when he
transferred his position of Munsif (judicial officer) for the East India Company from
Fatehpur Sikri to Delhi, following the death of his elder brother.1 His work Asar-ul
Sanadid: Imarat I Dihli ki Mustanad Tarikh (Great Monuments: An authentic history of
the buildings of Delhi) was considered the most comprehensive treatise on Delhi
architecture. His conclusions were included in the reports of the ASI written in the 1860s
and the guides prepared at the turn of the century for English tourists to Delhi also relied
on his findings. Thus, the repository of information provided by him formed the basis on
which an early consensual opinion on the nature of the Qutub complex was developed by
scholars like J.A. Page and Alexander Cunningham.
The major subject of interests in the works of Khan, Page and Cunningham was the
redeployment of Hindu and Jain temple material within the masjid structure which were
defaced, inverted or plastered over through which Qutubuddin Aibak sought to make a
statement of conquest and hegemony over an infidel population in north India and thus
conduct a ritual cleansing of profane territory.2
They were preoccupied with the plinth of the temple upon which the mosque was built and
the number of Hindu temple pillars which were utilized. Their discussion of the Qutub
Minar was again largely restricted to its stylistic origins whether it had indigenous or
Ghurid influences.
They essentially viewed the reuse of plundered temple material not merely to proclaim
Qutubuddin Aibaks victory over Delhi but more importantly as Islams victory over
idolaters, as the victorious culmination of a preceding series of plunder raids led by
Muslims into Sindh, Punjab and Hindustan. This analysis was drawn from the assumption
that the mosque was known as Quwwat ul Islam in the past. Sunil Kumar points out there
is no historical evidence in the form of any extant inscription in the mosque or referred to
by this name in any Sultanate chronicle. We shall discuss in detail the divergent spectrum of
views on the Masjid I-Jami being referred to as Quwwat ul Islam, as representative of the
might of Islam later.
In the 1960s an attempt towards a more secular narrative was attempted by Meister,
Mujeeb and Husain which though repudiated the earlier anachronistic view was equally
problematic. To question the view of destruction and conquest, the Hindu adaptation of the
saracenic arch or the corbelled dome were highlighted as examples of inter-community
cooperation and amity. 3
In the 1990s, Anthony Welch and Probert Hildenbrand not adhering to the anachronistic
communal or secular assumptions attempted at presenting the natives view which proved
to be even more problematic. According to Anthony Welch, the Muslim patrons of the
Hindu craftsmen forced them to conform to the Islamic architectural styles as reflected in
Fatima Quraishi, Asar-ul-Sanadid: a nineteenth-century history of Delhi, Journal of Art Historiography,
2012, vol.6, p.1.
2
Ibid, p. 145.
3
Ibid, p. 146.
1

24

the attempt to replicate the familiar form back home, consequently twisting and tarnishing
the indigenous forms of architecture. In his view, since the Qutub Minar performed the
symbolic function of marking the Daral-Islam (the land of Islam) newly conquered from the
infidels and was the most visible to believers and believers outside the city walls, it carried
Quranic statements of conquest. 1He argued that the monument was an overwhelming
celebration of Islamic conquest and thus the form and structure of the monument and the
inscriptions it carried was meant to distinguish the Muslim conquerors from their Hindu
subjects and thus serve as a reassuring symbol of Islams superiority to the Muslims in a
foreign land.
Sunil Kumar questions the predominant narrative by pointing out that the extent of
destruction caused by Muslim conquest needs to be re-contextualized. Near the so-called
site of destruction existed a reservoir built by a Hindu queen, called the Hauz-i-Rani prior
to the capture of Delhi which had remained unfazed by plunder.
It is also important to question whether the Qutub Minar was only associated with the Delhi
Sultans. Research has been carried out to prove that it also came to be associated with the
Sufi saint, Qutb aldin Bakhtiyar Kaki whose shrine was located near the Masjid I-Jami,
which offers an alternative explanation to it being referred to as Quwwat ul Islam. Qutb
aldin Bakhtiyar Kaki was the pir of Baba Farid, Nizam al din Awliyas spiritual master and
the renown of the student had certainly accrued to his teachers as well.
The shrine emerged as an important pilgrimage site in the late 14th and early 15th
centuries. Though Qutb aldin Bakhtiyar Kaki did not enjoy the popularity as enjoyed by
Nizam al-din Auliya, he became immensely popular amongst the later Mughal emperors for
his mystical prowess. In the 18th century many people in Delhi regarded him as the senior
most in the hierarchy of saints, especially chosen by God to maintain order in the world.
According to popular cosmology prevalent in Delhi in the late 18th and early 19th century,
Bakhtiyar Kaki was regarded as the Qutub, the axis around whom the world revolved. 2
This interpretation came to acquire an iconic representation when the minar of the
neighbouring 13th century Masjid I-Jami was described as Qutb sahib ki lath. Thus the
minaret was believed to represent the staff of Qutb aldin Bakhtiyar Kaki which pierced
the sky and like the pir himself, connected heaven with earth, providing stability and shelter
to mortals on earth. In this reworked interpretation, it was the saint who was the Quwwat
ul Islam, the sanctuary of Islam and not the congregational mosque. Thus it was in
acknowledgment of the pirs charisma that the minaret of the mosque was called the Qutub
Minar.
In spite of such developments in research, the view of the monument as an assertion of
Islamic hegemony has remained unquestioned. This view has been borne out of the
tendency to view the medieval period as the Muslim period even though historians no
longer call it so. The Delhi Sultans and Mughal emperors are accorded pre-eminence at the
cost of other actors who had the capacity of playing an important role. This static and
1
2

Ibid, p.147.
Ibid, p. 170.

25

undifferentiated narrative is disturbed only occasionally by Bhaktis and Sufis who are
dismissed as non-conformist since they did not fall in the ambit of the two dominant
religions. 1
As established through the course of this project, there is a need to question the
predominant narrative which has been indelibly imprinted onto our minds through what we
perceive as evidence in the form of the ASI guide and the historiographical arguments on
which it is premised and thus re-write a narrative which does not recognize the two
religious communities as monolithic and cohesive in their entirety since there were
dissensions and conflicts within the communities themselves. Moreover ascribing
significance to a monument as the symbol of an assertion of a particular religious identity
becomes problematic because the structure and organization which form the premises of the
so-called Hindu and Islamic identities are essentially modern constructs. Therefore, it will
be anachronistic to conform to this assumption.
Moreover, we must acknowledge that the representation of the Qutub Minar and the socalled Quwwat ul Islam mosque in popular culture has evoked a fragmented history of the
medieval times which has determined to a certain extent the process of defining our
identities in the contemporary scenario. Thus, it is pertinent that we juxtapose the two
narratives, out of which the predominant one evokes a memory of communal strife based on
facts which are now being questioned by the other narrative which seeks to rise above
religious dichotomy and accommodates scope for more intensive historical research.

Bibliography
Sunil Kumar, Qutb and Modern Memory, in The Partitions of Memory: The Afterlife of the
Division of India, Suvir Kaul, Indiana University Press, 2002.
Qutb Minar and Adjoining Monuments, Archaeological Survey of India, Good Earth
Publications, New Delhi, 2002.
Delhi and its Neighbourhood, Archaeological Survey of India, Bengal Offset Works, New
Delhi, 2001.
Fatima Quraishi, Asar-ul-Sanadid: a nineteenth-century history of Delhi, Journal of Art
Historiography, vol.6, 2012 (accessed Mar 1,2016), http://arthist.net/archive/3405

Ibid, p.173.

26

The History of Institutions and the Institutions of

History: Tte--Tte with Mr. Gopinath Ravindran
(Guest Interview, Maazi O Mustaqbil 2016)

Aishwarya Upadhyay, Sahitya Poonacha and Aditi Kumar

Q. This question is related to your field of study. You have studied Malabar and south
Indian history. Is there a larger effort to integrate the histories of these regions? Say the
ancient and the early medieval period of Indian history. As when we study early medieval
history, we find that there is a paucity of perspectives from down south or the Deccan
and even from the north-eastern regions.
Ans. [Regional histories from] North-east yes, because the textual evidence sources are
limited still. But the south especially, is very significant. One, I dont believe in the idea of a
south India. There is nothing known as a South India or a North India because these two
categories are deeply fractured and there are a large number of variations within it. So I
don't think there is any sense in calling it South Indian history. Having said that, I think
regional history had its home in southern India. Regional histories had academic acceptance
in southern India unlike in north India or northern India, where it comes much later. We've
thought of this thing because if we look at the south, if you are aware of historical writing on
southern India, there is a lot on the valleys, on the drylands, on the wetlands going back to
the Sangam literature. These have been investigated by geographers, economic historians,
and social historians. Whereas in the north, you don't find [something like] it. There is no
vibrant history of Bundelkhand for instance, that is a region. Yes you have some on the hills
now, [for example] Chetan Singhs writing. Now the Himalayan history is coming up. But it's
still coming up. So maybe I am speculating here, I think it's the fact that southern India didn't
have a very centralized, powerful state like the Mughal state. And you had regional powers.
The dynasty might have changed but the powers of different regions continued for a long
time. So I think that is the difference in the north and the south in terms of regional history.
That yes, sitting in the north, not much of southern India is taught. That is correct. There is a
bias. But I think the bias is not the kind of the north- south bias so much; [but] it is of
centralized state versus regional states. I think that is the bias.
Q. Sir, you talked about the Dumbing down of History. Dumbing down of History has
a history of its own, its not something that has just developed recently. NCERT books,
after 2006, the statistics arent revaluated. The dumbing down begins at the level of
primary education. Therefore, how can institutions like the ICHR influence the different
institutions to bring about that type of thinking of children? The textbooks have been
dependent on the central government. How do you think it can be tackled in a manner
that objective and not state-sponsored history is taught to students?
Ans. By dumbing down, I didnt mean being lazy. Not updating statistics is laziness. But
methodologically they might be good books, or may not be good books. Dumbing down of
history is when you try to mistake the popular Amar Chitra Katha to be history, it is when
27

you say that when there is a popular belief, the sources are in variance with it but you accept
the popular. You dont have the intellectual capability or tools to sift History from myth. I am
not saying that myths are not important, but a myth should be read as a myth it is important
to study history but the myth cant be taken as a factually describing source. So this is what a
great historian does, you read the Ramayana and make use of it but you wont believe that
whatever was written in the Ramayana actually happened. That is the dumbing down I was
talking about.
As to the second part of the question, that is the popularization of History, the task of
institutions like the ICHR was the popularization of Science or History. That popularization,
if I were to teach the B.A. class or M.A. class, it will be pitched at different levels in terms of
details and complexity of the argument being put forward. So a school textbook will differ on
its assessment from your readings. Thats not dumbing down but a simplified History. A
good historian will write a history that can be simplified at times but not simplistic. I will not
write A caused this and this caused this, but try to bring in as many complexities as possible
keeping in mind the ability of the recipient to absorb it. The question regarding the central
government is a pertinent question because most schools are not with the central government.
It is less than 10% of you students who read CBSE books. CBSE books might not be the best
books. But if you go to states, thats where the most harm takes place. Bipan Chandras
books might not have been the most exciting of History books to read [what changed it was
Romila Thapar and R.S. Sharmas books]. Of the new books, Political Science was really
good, Sociology was good, but History I wasnt very happy with. It was all over the place,
reading some of the books. Although the idea was good, getting the child to think. But statesponsored books, dont think that everything outside the state is benign, they can be as bad as
the State books or as good. Most of your students go to non-CBSE boards, they have nothing
to do with CBSE; they might go to other boards. That is a false binary, where CBSE is the
state. The non-state, might have biases of region and religion, give undue importance to
states and they are not aware of whats happening in other regions. Therell be national
history and your own state history taught. Therell be other biases depending on the people in
power in the State. You can have the same problems faced by CBSE textbooks, in State
syllabus and privately-produced textbooks also. I was part of an ICSE school, and we had the
most horrible textbooks, our teacher prescribed V.D. Mahajan to us, in high school I thought
he was a great historian! But a state-sponsored textbook need not be worse than a privatelyproduced textbook.
Q. Religion and politics usually use history as a tool. And this happens repeatedly, which
is detrimental for many academic institutions. This un-credited use of history,
sometimes borders on fabrications. How do you think can this be curbed today? Given
the developments that have taken place recently, as a student of history, it would affect
us to hear these biased or largely one-sided perspectives of history coming about.
Ans. I think it is politics that uses history. And religion per se should not, because religion is
not history. History as opposed to belief; that is, historical enquiry as in distinction from
belief [should be considered in our perspective]. If I were to ask you if you believed in God,
what would be your answer? (A member from the editorial board says yes, another says no)
but, historically you cannot prove that [religion being history]. So, that is belief; that is faithas opposed to history. So there is a distinction between history and faith and as long as that
is maintained and recognized; I'm not a believer but for a believer like her (referring to the
editorial board member who said that she was a believer); would be comfortable in a private
faith and in pursuing an objective/ scientific/ professional historical enquiry, there won't be
28

any conflict. But politics has used history and I think it should use history. What is politics?
Politics is an attempt to either justify the kind of government and governance that you have at
present or an attempt to change it. Let's say- if I'm in favour of whatever is happening today
or the state as we have it, then I should be able to marshal history to support my support for
the state. And if I want the state to change again, I will again go back to history. So history is
an indispensable resource. The problem comes when history is wrongly interpreted. We are
not saying that history should not be used. But historical research or history conclusions
should be arrived at only by following commonly accepted methods of research. That is the
only point.
Q. Doesnt Institutional History at times become a History of institutions?
Ans. Yes, unfortunately. Thats what I was trying to say. They become hagiographies
sometimes. They become narratives of a particular institution. So, institutional history has
become like regional history and it has played a very useful role; for instance you have
depression in the world, how does it affect India? And within India how does it affect
agriculture, how does it affect Bengal? Why does it not affect another place? Why does the
1857 revolt not spread the same way all over the country? So these specifics have to be taken
into account and some kind of inter-textual analysis needs to take place so you should have
an inter-institutional analysis, and look at the spaces between institutions also. So the
institution should not always be seen vis-a-vis another institution but also through the noninstitutional. It is not that with the institution everything is hunky dory and you cant do
without the institution that is not true. If you have a bad institution it might not be helpful.
But the very attitude to institutions becomes the culprit of the state. Its like looking at prices,
prices themselves wont tell you anything but price increase at this time can tell other things.
Therefore, the institutional decline while you have at the same time the growth of another
competing institution will have a lot to tell you about the state at the time, about the
institutions and the needs of the people at the time or popular demands of all including those
of the dominating groups.
Q. What do you think it would mean to history if we didn't have institutions like the
ICHR?
Ans. I don't think very great will be happening to people like us sitting in Delhi (in terms of
its effects on academic research). But these institutions become much more important for a
student or a researcher in a small town away from Delhi. Here you are in a good college in
the centre of the city. You know people here; you know where to apply for a grant. Your
teachers will help you; the college itself would have some connections. Whereas most people
outside the metropolitan academic space do not have these privileges or advantages. So for
them, they need money [and] university funding is going down everywhere. These are fundgiving institutions. These are scholarship-giving institutions. These are institutions that help
people move out of their immediate colleges and universities. So to make Indian history more
cosmopolitan, you need these institutions. For example I have never taken a grant from
ICHR, but that doesn't mean that the ICHR isn't important, or, UGC for instance. That's
another very important institution and through the UGC you control, [although] you should
not be controlling the content of education but even that is happening. ICHR is a small
institution but UGC is a huge institution; and its power going up can also be detrimental to
other, competing institutions. So the university can be in a state of tension with the UGC, or a
college might be in a state of tension with the university. As long as it is healthy tension and
something [is] coming out of this conversation between institutions, it bodes well for
29

academics. But if it becomes a turf war or if one trying to displace the other, assuming that
they all have a purpose, then I think it's bad for research.
Q. When you talked about the protocol of History, a methodology that all institutions of
History should agree to, do you think that all institutions will agree to the protocol? If
this is a scientific methodology, dont all institutions already employ it?
Ans. These are very general, basic things which all of us do. If I were to ask you, the causes
of the revolt of 1857. What will you do? You might have a hypothesis, you might say first, that
it was not caused by the greased cartridges but by the disruption and dislocation before
1857, that is your assertion or hypothesis. Then you will go find material to support the
assertion. If you find material and if you are an honest historian you will say My assertion
is correct. But if youre dishonest you will ignore it, or you will manufacture evidence.
Therefore, Diplomatics becomes important [a church discipline engaged in checking the
veracity of documents. It used to be a cause of some of the old universities]. They find
whether these are forged documents dating back to the time. Anybody dealing with the past
should do this. You consider fake till proved genuine. Very often you have examples like the
British fortnightly report, that speaks of the Gundas coming and burning the police station
but who is the Gunda? Therefore, you have to be able to read your source. The rebels came
and attacked the report says. Today they would mean the nationalists for you or the freedomfighters, but for the colonial state they would see it differently as militants or terrorists. Look
at the authenticity of the source and be strictly guided by your source and then go on to
accept, reject, or modify your hypothesis. That is simple scientific method. If we use this we
can still have differences of opinion but it would be a healthy difference of opinion, because
the facts on the basis of which youre putting forward your view might be different from mine
but theres nothing wrong in the use of these facts. No, all institutions dont use it. How can
you say that there was plastic surgery or aeroplanes flying around in India in the ancient
times? Now that is coming into a textbook, a state-sponsored textbook.
Dinanath Batra is also a higher-education advisor in Haryana, so, that very clearly doesnt
correspond to any source material. Now, you dont have to be a great historian to know that
but you cant find sources to corroborate this assertion. That is the kind of popular history
that is problematic. Or take Cynthia Talbots essay, Authenticity of Prithviraj Raso, it says
that this historian comes along and says that it [Prithviraj Raso] is not authentic because it is
written much later and is fabricated. The other historian says it is not. If we are engaging in
this debate its fine. Let a hundred schools of historical thought bloom, there is nothing
wrong with that. But, it is only when I try to misrepresent and deviate from the protocol is
when the problem begins.

30

National to Moral: A Conversation on History with

Dilip Simeon
(Guest Interview, Maazi O Mustaqbil 2016)

Irandati Pal and Jhilam Roy

Q. Can we talk of a national history in a country like India which consists of motley of
people with diverse ethnic, cultural, linguistic identities? Can we also assume that
citizens of India do not really feel bonded to the nation and that there is no national
identity as such and what we have are just attachments to particular regions and
communities which are presumed to be splinters of a larger national identity?
Ans. To answer the first part of the question I would say that, yes, we can talk of a national
history of India, provided that you have a very inclusive view of national history. There is no
harm in talking about national history as long as it is done with a certain amount of modesty,
openness, and, with the knowledge that national history is not that of one particular group,
but the evolution of many people into some consciousness. But it should be posed with
modesty. It should not be defined by one group or one kind of ideology. Is it the nation which
defines the people or is it the other way round? There is a Difference between liberal and
imperial version of history. Each one has got a stake in providing his view to his nations
history. This is an inclusive and democratic view. People from various backgrounds think
and come up with their respective views on national history. But, there is also an imperial
version where the nation decides that only one dominant national history prevails and then
forces it down upon peoples imagination.
[Answer to the second half of the question] See there are two different issues here. The
question you are raising is that of the formation and dissolution of interest groups. There are
only a few interest groups involved, its not the entire people who are defined as this or that
nation or nationality and to which people actually belong. Some people are defining and
there are other people who are coming around to the definition. But these are separate
issues, as to how identities are dissolved and formed. Its a question of interest, power and
language. But, thats one issue. The other issue is that the concept of the nation itself is a
product of modern institutions of nation-state. So nationalism became an important ideology
during the French Revolution and when the French Revolution needed to define itself in
antipathy to its enemies. So nationalism became a system of governance or nation became an
ideology that accompanied the birth of the nation-state. So the history of nation-state is very
important and it needs to be understood as a de facto, default concept, regardless of whether
it fits or not. You use it because United Nations is called United Nations. The nation-state is
the building block of the international committee of nations; and, whether the word is
apposite or not, we still use it. We presume that nation-state is the home of a nation. This
itself is a problem. Its a home of a nation, which, if it is presumed that the home of a nation
is a homogeneous entity then, you are making some people belong and some people
superfluous. So therefore the concept of India is a nation-state, whether it is a nation or not
can be discussed. People view it in one way or another depending on their preferences but it
31

is a nation-state and it has a national Constitution which was worked out by some democratic
process. Within it there are many groups and sub-groups that are arguing. The doctrine of
nations and nationalism is a part of the Left-wing discourse which arose in the Russian
Revolution but it isnt necessarily fitting into it. We should not use vocabulary that does not
necessarily fit. We shouldnt use it and we should question it.
Q. There is a dearth of accessibility to archives and sources in our country. As a
consequence of that, a student ends up getting only the historiography or an
interpretation of events by some or the other scholar and not the actual reportage on the
incident. Do you think that this gives a distorted version of history to the student?
Ans. Yes it does. It isnt just the students who suffer from inaccessibility to records, even,
researchers are not allowed. Some archives are available, some arent. No kind of consistent
archival policy is followed in India. In Anglo-American academies, archives are released out
after some 30-40 years but we dont have that. Some papers are over 70 years old and this is
not released at all. There are some documents in the C.I.D. office in Lucknow which are
relevant to the Indian national movement but half of them were all lost in floods many years
back. The remaining half is still very important for understanding the Indian national
movement .its important material but they wont release it.
We dont have any respect for history. We are still treating it ideologically. It took so long to
release the archives and documents on Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose. In 2012, the Congressled government was asked to release documents on Netaji and they refused by implying that it
would lead to a threat to national security. What do you mean by national security? There
are some papers related to Netaji in England. These papers clearly show that the right-hand
man of Netaji, Bhagat Talwar was a C.I.D. agent, an informer to the British. Of course, a
war was going on during this time and the British obviously utilised the information relayed
to them by such secret informers. But why hide that now? After the collapse of the Soviet
Union, important papers on Hitler were released and one scholar did a wonderful job of
collecting this information and providing a new perspective to understanding Hitler and his
policies. This was a great service to the public since it shed light on many things which were
unknown previously. Yes, what we study is historiography and there are good as well as bad
historiography. But, we need historiography to provide a structural framework for studying
any event/incident because it isnt just possible to understand things just by using archival
material and documents.
Q. Quoting Mr. Rajkamal Jhas statement, If you dont understand a language, please
get an interpreter, we would like you to share with us your viewpoint on the complete
disregard shown to historians or for that matter, historical facts by the government and
the general public in the context of historical interpretation, especially in the case of
highly politicised, debatable and dramatic debacles such as the demolition of Babri
Masjid.
Ans. Well, this question relates to the place of history and historical thinking in politics.
Thats why my lecture today was on ideology. You choose and reject what you want as per
your convenience. The Leftists have also done this. For many years, Lenins view on Stalin
was completely obliterated from public records....... So, various government and power
structures use history as per their convenience, as per the ideological requirements of the
day, but we cannot do our history keeping that in mind. We have to do our historical work as
honestly as we can. Of course, what view the society makes of it depends on our skill and the
32

level of receptivity on the part of the people. People pay no attention to what the historians
have to say.
Q. How far does morality play its due role in everyday politics and social life? Can an
incident or event or even the actions of people be put into the watertight confines of
good and evil?
Ans. Well, this is a world shattering question. You know when you talk of entire groups of
people, of different classes of people and you attach moral categories to them, I think that is
wrong that you kind of discharge the capacity of moral judgement by using general
categories, for instance by saying that A is good, B is bad, because good and bad can be
found in every human being and it doesnt have to be flattened like this. There are certain
narratives which do away with or flatten our moral senses by including entire groups of
people or even nations as good and bad. It cant be done. So it is a challenge to our moral
sensibilities, and then of course, there is the age old question of distinction between good and
bad and between good and evil. Now, I think that we cant do away with the concept of evil
and sin and so on. And that is one thing that has got a place in theology, but it has got a
place in theology because there is obviously something out there. We cannot just dismiss it
because it is there in theology. Theology is something that has to be itself explained. So we
might even argue that theology is the first definition of philosophy because there are certain
metaphysical questions [in it], such as what is good and bad and what is just and unjust, or
statements by saints and prophets such as Jesus, according to whom, it is better to suffer
oneself than to inflict pain and sufferings on others. So people have been grappling with this
question of good and bad and good and evil for a very long time and so it is obviously an
aspect of the human predicament. We are just like that, we do that, and people have noticed it
all over the world. There are some features of human existence which are common to all of us
regardless of time, space, culture, so I feel that, to come back to the question of ideology
today, ideology is used as sustenance.
The natural human inclinations to make such categories and distinctions between good and
bad and so on and so forth, is used by people as sustenance for political purposes so I believe
that ideology should be for philosophical purposes and not for fulfilling some functions of
yours. You want to justify some kind of hooliganism and you resort to this category of good
and bad, and what you are doing is to provide the worst kind of fuel and thats why I said you
may use history to convert evil into virtue. These questions are really big and cannot be
answered off- hand but, you need to keep your moral sensibilities alive and we can do that
only if we continue to talk. Thats why truth and nonviolence are so important because if I
have a conversation with you, even if I disagree violently with you, I should not be doing
violence. Then only will I arrive at truth but if I dont allow dissent to exist or if I launch into
a violent attack then that makes no sense of having a speech.
Q. How would you want students to read and perceive history?
Ans. I want them to view history as a very wonderful and exciting story of the human race
but also one which is full of pain and turmoil and something that will give them an
opportunity to present time. History is always a means of locating ourselves in the present.
When you look back in history and you see the tremendous amount of energy and human
variety and human culture and thought its staggering and exciting. You can be excited by
history, you dont have to be depressed by it but you should always approach it with an open
mind and not an ideological prison, because once you put yourself into a prison then you are
in a compartment and then you automatically shut off the other voices that could actually
33

enrich you. So you are simply impoverishing yourself, depriving yourself voluntarily. I want
to make it very concrete, I was within the Marxist- communist tradition and, we didnt read
people like Hannah Arendt or Albert Camus or Leo Strauss because they werent Marxists
but everybody does not fit into these categories and they may still have something to say. Our
approach to Gandhi is like this. We feel so suspicious that Gandhi is a [advocate of]
Sanathan- Dharma, so there are a whole lot of people who identify themselves with atheism
and so on, and I feel that it isnt necessary. In any case atheism itself is an awfully debatable
issue but whatever it is you should not dismiss somebody because he was religious. So, even
the question of communalism can be linked to religiosity, there are some people who are
completely religious but secular and then there are irreligious people who are communal.
There is no direct link. I recommend students to read Gandhis works, primarily Volume. 90
of Gandhis collected works, which is available in the Gandhi Heritage portal in the Internet,
in Gujarati and Hindi, and read the last few weeks of his life, and you will find something in
it that is completely relevant even in present times. So that is something very concrete that
Im telling you. Its so relevant and vibrant and you should read it.

34

Natyashastra: A Treatise on Society?

Sahitya Poonacha and Mayurpankhi Choudhury
The Natyashastra, a treatise on dance and drama is an inclusive yet exclusive text. While it
allows a wide range of people to read the text, it does not believe in or propagate an
inclusive society. It gives us a vivid insight into life in the society of 200 BCE to 200 CE, a
deeply reflective text that is a work of Brahmanical dominance, an example of a text used by
the Brahmanas to propagate their ideal of what a society should be like.
He who always hears the reading of this Sastra which is auspicious, sportful, originating
from Brahmans mouth, very holy, pure, good, destructive of sins, and who puts this into
practice or witnesses the performance will attain the same goal which masters of the Vedic
path and the masters of the Vedic lore, the performance of sacrifices or the givers of gifts
attain- says Bharata as he concludes his narration.
This paper seeks to analyse the treatise as reflection of the society it was written for and the
ideas of the people it was written by.

The Natyashastra is said to be written between 200 BCE and 200 CE by renowned scholars,
attributed to Bharata Muni as a treatise on drama and dance. The perceived writer Bharat
Muni covers the entire Indian subcontinent in all directions almost in an effort to create an
all-pervasive and inclusive text. Maybe the author1 was working for the propagation of
Dharma and Brahmanical ideas and found this one way to unify all the people to create their
stronghold. The Natyashastra had a wide reach.2 It is considered the fifth Veda to primarily
give it Brahmanical sanction. We must remember, the text was composed around a time
when the Varna order had come into full swing, but it would do good to know that the texts
of the Brahmanas applied in theory but questionably in practice.
The portrayal of caste in the Natyashastra, proves exactly how segregated the society was
during the time period. When asked why the text was written by his disciples Bharata muni,
replies that people had become unrighteous3. All the gods and celestial beings who accepted
Indra as their head approached Brahman asking for a text accessible to the Sudras as well.4
This inclusive characteristic of the Natyashastra doesnt reflect the inclusive character of
society at the time. The purpose of the Natyashastra or the effect it had on society was to be
such that it would shape a good member of society.5

The Natyashatra may have been a work of a body of authors as the text spans a vast number of years
Places mentioned include; Anta, Andhra, Odra, Kalinga, Kosala, Tosala, Tripura, Magadha, Madraka, Sindhu,
Ganga and Himalaya, etc.
3
. people became addicted to sensual pleasures, were under the sway of desire and greed, became infatuated
with jealousy and anger, and thus found their happiness mixed with sorrow.
4
.We want an object of diversion, which must be audible as well as visible. As the vedas arent to be listened
to by those born as Sudras, be pleased to create another veda which will belong to all the colour-groups
Manmohan Ghosh, Origin of Drama, The Natyashastra: A Treatise on Dramatology and Histrionics, 1950,
pp. 2-3
5
..Teaches duty to those bent on doing their duty, love to those who are eager for its fulfilment, chastises
those who are ill-bred, promotes self-restraint in the disciplined, gives courage to cowards.. M. Ghosh,
op.cit., pp. 2-3
2

35

The Natyashastra states that it is written for everybody, and its wide reach attests to its
pervasive quality. Bharata though, is sceptical of the text being accessible. Abhinava Gupta1
observantly points to the usage of the word loka most probably referring to the people of a
desa and concludes that the text may have been written for the people living in the
Janapadas.2 The audience of the plays Bharata Muni elaborately describes as comprising all
sections of society, but still prefers if the audience of the plays were made up of any people
except Sudras for their lack of knowledge of dramatic art.
Every ritual and every activity including the construction of the playhouse was to be
ratified by the Brahmanas, these processes were a ritual in itself3.He uses the word
undesirable to describe the following people: heretics, Sramanas4and those who had
physical defects. He uses the word men for Sramanas and physically handicapped people, so
we cant tell whether the women belonging to these groups didnt attend the proceedings.
Moreover, plays were usually divided into ankas in order to pertain to the time constraints
of rulers.
Four pillars are raised on the site, one for each caste in various directions. During the
ceremony, gold is thrown at the foot of the Brahmin pillar, silver at the foot of the Kshatriya
pillar, copper at the foot of the Vaisya pillar and iron at the foot of the Sudra pillar. For the
puja and the construction to go well, Bharata insists that it is necessary that the Brahmins
be pleased with a variety of items like jewels, cows and clothes showing patronization.
Bharata remembers to warn the people about the consequences of not following the rules of
consecration, which is that they will be reborn as an animal of the lower order. Whether
this refers to the lower castes, thereby calling the lower castes animals or if it refers to a
lowly animal isnt clear.
There were four original sentiments, the Erotic, Furious, Heroic and Odious, out of which
the eight types arise which Bharata talks about. One of them is the Comic sentiment5. He
distinguishes the laughter according to caste where the Aryans were said to have possessed
a slight smile or a smile. Middlings6 and women were said to possess a laughter of ridicule
while vulgar or excessive laughter was associated with the inferiors or lower castes.
Disgust7, Apprehension8 and Sorrow9 only pertained to women and inferiors. Energy was
attributed to superior castes10. Behaviours of specific castes while being Intoxicated (State
of drunkenness) is also categorized11. The various castes experience different levels of
intoxication too12.
1

Abhinava Gupta- Commentator on the Natyshastra.

Janapadas- refers to urban centres of the times.
3
Even before the play starts in the chapter Preliminaries of the play the blessing and the approval of the kings
and the Brahmanas is sought. The pujas are conducted by the Brahmanas, the playhouse is constructed only
when the Brahmanas are satisfied and the Brahmanas are also shown to be powerful beings to be addressed as
the Noble one.
4
Sramanas- non-Vedic people part of an upstart parallel to the Vedic tradition
5
Comic sentiment describes various types of laughter
6
Middlings signify the Vaisya community
7
Disgust is caused by seeing unpleasant things, attached to women and inferiors
8
Apprehension is generated by acts of robbery, theft and offending superiors; the kings and Brahmans, attached
to women and inferiors
9
Bharata says Sorrow relates to women, persons of the inferior type., Persons of the superior and the
middling types are distinguished by their patience and those of the inferior type by their weeping M. Ghosh,
op.cit., pp. 110-147
10
Superiors- the Kings, Princes and Brahmanas
11
Superiors would sleep, the Middlings would laugh and sing and inferiors would cry or use hot words
12
Superiors are associated with light intoxication, medium intoxication is characteristic of the Middlings and
excessive intoxication is associated with the inferior people.
2

36

That Bharata thought that amongst humans there would be a difference in the way each
human expressed his emotions on stage or in reality according to caste or gender is largely
created by the teaching and the strict order that he saw in his society. In reality if someone
wasnt consumed in their tradition and would admit to themselves, the superior, middling,
inferior and women would all laugh the same way over similar topics and express their
emotions as humans not as a Brahmana, Kshatriya, Vaisya, Sudra or a woman.
Positions and postures were an important aspect of drama and Bharata explains how Kings
and Brahmanas would stand and how the Middlings and Sudras would stand too1. What
this tells us, isnt of what the actors were doing on stage but it gives us a reflection of what
was actually happening in society. It isnt necessary that thats how kings and Brahmas held
themselves in society but Bharata made it so to patronize them and praise them. Separately
he describes the gaits of ministers, ascetics, merchants, blind men. Those of the lower castes
would have eyes moving to different objects and should always have his head or hands bent.
One should also keep in mind that many of these postures may be exaggerated due to the
requirements of such performances, solely to create a better effect on stage, but it seems less
so.
The particular chapter in the Natyashastra regarding costumes and make-up2 is very
reflective of the society at its time Manomohan Ghosh believed so too. In the sense, that it
aims to project the people as they looked in their daily existence, which tells us a great deal
of what went into making that person appear as he did in society. There is a great deal of
emphasis on the different regions and the stratification of society. Artists were to wear
certain colours and also be painted a certain colour to make identification of characters
easier on stage. Each caste from different regions wore specific colours3Manomohan Ghosh
says4 that sometimes those with the same complexion would be represented by the same
colours but this hardly explains certain categorizations5. It is true that most of these get ups
would have been exaggerations to emphasise certain points amidst these descriptions
though we also find the mention of foreigners and the dressing manners of Buddhists. This
might prove that even though they subscribed to the Brahmanical approval the authors or
author of the text is aware of parallel traditions contemporary to their time.
The distribution of roles as a chapter that tells us that only certain people could be selected
to play certain roles. While discussing how situations and people are supposed to be
represented he also talks of how characters are to be represented. There are certain types of
characters6 that are typically represented in a play; a superior male who would possess
certain qualities of control, wisdom, skill, etc.7. Similarly a superior female would be
represented8. A middling male would be seen subordinate to his superior1. A female

Those playing superior and Middling characters, had to ensure that their chests were raised (Vaishnava
Sthana), shoulders at rest (Sama and Caturasa), the neck as graceful as that of a peacock, and it goes on further.
2
M.Ghosh,op.cit., p. 424
3
Brahmins and Kshatriyas should be always made red and Vaisyas and Sudras dark or deep blue in
complexion ibid., p. 426
4
Ibid, footnote 1, p. 425
5
Those who practice vile acts, possessed of evil spirits, diseased or engaged in penance and do not perform
sacrifices and are inferior in birth should be made brown Ibid., p. 424
6
M. Ghosh, op.cit., pp. 527-552
7
Superior male- controlled in his sense, wise, skilled in arts and crafts, honest, expert in enjoyment, consoles the
poor, versed in the Sastras, grave, liberal, patient and munificent.
8
Superior female- tender nature, not fickle or cruel, speaks smilingly, obedient to her superiors, bashful, good
mannered, has physical charm, high birth and natural qualities, grave and patient

37

wouldnt have all the superior females qualities, shed possess them but with many flaws.
An inferior male was supposed to be harsh, unintelligent, violent and murderous2. A female
of inferiority would be similar to her male counterpart. Inferior castes only had the option
of playing an inferior character while superior castes had options3.
Nayaka (the hero) and Nayika (the heroine) are the protagonists in Natyashastra. Nayikas
have been classified into 384 types on the basis of their age, characteristics, behaviour and
their position in love affairs; similar to those in Manusmriti.4
The 25th chapter of the Natyashastra describes three kinds of women:-Uttama, Madhyama and
the Adhama women. The Uttama women are shown to have high tolerance level, are adroit
in the strategies of Kamatantra and are highly desired by men for their fertility. They are
the women of the superior nature. The Madhyama women or middle women are shown to be
jealous and malevolent characters who are proud and short tempered but can be pacified
quickly. The Adhamma women are degenerate women who get angry without a cause and
are inherently ill natured. The Uttama women most probably belonged to the Brahmin
family, the Madhyama were the high caste women of the society and the lower caste women
were the Adhamma. One can thus note the patriarchal notions seeping in through the
Brahmanical compositions. It remains a high probability that women who didnt conform to
the social norms or questioned them were deemed as Adhamma.
In the 24th chapter of Natyashastra, 8 kinds of women are categorized. One of these kind of
women is Khandita which means broken. She is described as a woman whose husband is
engaged with the other women. But why does Bharata Muni call her broken? The answer
can be sought in another classification. Swadhinbhartrika is an independent woman, whose
husband lives with her because of sexual attraction and never looks at other women. Hence,
a woman is only complete with her man. Virhotkanthita, Kalahantarika, Vipralabdhaare all
aspiring for a Nayaka, in their life. The classification of women is not done according to
their productive roles. They have been given a secondary position according to their
relations with their male counterpart. Domestication of women is set in the mental scope of
the audience. A women is basically living under the patronage of a man be it her husband or
her lover.
The 25th chapter grants men full freedom to synchronize womens sexual sphere through
the use of power (both, physical and economic) and violence. It follows the lines of
Kamatantra and Manusmriti5, providing Saam, Pradan, Bheda and Danda as a legal and valid
medium to exploit women according to mens desire. Control over womens sexuality
emerges as an important aspect. The author seems to be aware of womens contribution to

Middling male-an expert in dealing with people, well-versed in books on arts and crafts and sastras, wise,
possesses sweetness
2
Using harsh words, ill-mannered, of small intelligence, irascible, violent, able to kill his friend, able to kill
anyone cruelly, treacherous, haughty in his words, ungrateful, indolent, an expert in insulting honoured persons,
covetous for women, fond of quarrel, doer of evil deeds and a stealer of others property
3
Only a slave would play a slave, but a middling would never play a slave.
4
It is the earliest metrical work on Brahmanical Dharma in Hinduism; records the words of Brahma. It states a
divine code of conduct for all women. For instance while talking about the love affairs of women it quotes
Swabhavevnarinam .. It is the nature of women to seduce men in this world; Uchayangh... Wise men
should marry only women who are free from bodily defects, with beautiful names, grace/gait like an elephant,
moderate hair on the head and body, soft limbs and small teeth.
5
It is recommended in the chapter V-164, VVI-371 of Manusmriti that, in case a women, proud of the greatness
of her excellence or her relatives, violates her duty towards her husband, the King shall arrange to have her
thrown before dogs at a public place.

38

patriarchy. Any occasion for protest is quelled and women are made to act as agents of
patriarchy.
The whole notion of femininity and masculinity also surfaces in the Natyashastra. While
expressing different emotions; there is clear distinction of male and female expressions of
joy, love, hatred and so on. For instance, fear by a Nayika is to be expressed by moving of
eyeballs, throbbing and shaking limbs, glancing sideways out of fear, looking for someone to
rescue them, weeping loudly and putting their arms round the man. But a man in a similar
situation cannot seek refuge in a woman. A Nayaka is supposed to express fear by
expressing consternation, slowly letting go of the women or by looking distraught or
worried. Similarly, anger in women is expressed by tearful eyes, touching of the chin and
the lips, shaking of the head, knitting of the eye-brows, keeping silent, curling of the fingers,
leaving of garlands and ornaments and assuming the Ayata posture1. A Nayaka, if angry is
allowed to resort to violent means. A woman was expected to be the epitome of grace and
tenderness. Even her exhibit of anger is not supposed to be filled with aggression.
A typical heroine, she is to be endowed with a good physical form, youth and strength; she
should be tender and charming and must have a lovely voice - conversant with tempo (laya)
and time (tala) and sentiments. In contrast women who have been barred from acting smile
on wrong occasions, have violent gaits, are haughty and unruly in their manners and are
suffering from diseases. Womens body is supposed useful in the cultural form like theatre.
Bharata Muni supposed feminine or patriarchal meters as requirement for being an actress.
Thus, by showing the icon of women in the form of an actress, he upheld the ideal
patriarchal image and impression of the woman in the cultural mind set of masses.
The Natyashastra however cannot be taken up as a historical text for study of womens
condition in ancient India due to its inherent shortcomings. It portrays dramatics as a
respectful occupation when this may not have been the reality. Except a widow and a
Nayika, no high caste women were allowed to step out of their houses after sunset. This was
because the Nayika needed to travel with her theatre group; she has been looked down upon
by society at large.
Moreover, the text remains silent about the caste of the Nayakas and the Nayikas. While it
becomes apparent that high caste women were barred from acting there is no mention of the
caste of Nayikas playing the role of high caste women on stage. The Purusa Sukta2 of the Rig
Samhita codifies the caste system as divine in nature. This makes it improbable that low
caste women in ancient India were given the liberty to act as high caste women onstage.
Moreover being part of a theatre group would require constant interaction and social
contact with other members of the group as well. The Natyashastra is assigned the date of
composition somewhere between 200 BCE to 200 CE. Considering the fact that
untouchability in India predates this time period, it is possible that lower caste women were
barred from the profession completely because they didnt adhere to the persona of a typical
Nayika. The non-Aryan groups are attributed with many degenerative terms in the Vedas
like the flat nosed, dark skinned and people who speak inferior language. Perhaps Bharata
Muni while framing the notion of an ideal Nayika kept in mind the characteristics of the
lower caste women as they didnt fit the mould of feminine beauty.
1

Standing in Chaturasra bending the knees slightly and obliquely and keeping a distance of Vitasati between the
two feet
2
The 10th mandala, hymn 90 of the Rigveda is dedicated to the Purusha, the "Cosmic Being". The different
castes in the varna system emerged from different parts of Purusha. From his mouth, arms, thighs and feet, the
four varna systems are born.

39

Bharata thus manages to describe society to us with great precision and detail. Unintended
or intended, still remains a question. But it gives us an idea of the various castes and the
status of women, how they were perceived and of the deep-rooted ideology of the caste
system that had been drilled into the brains of the people.

Bibliography
Das, Dr. Shruti. "Ancient Indian Dramaturgy: A Historical Overview of Bharata's
Natyashastra." Research scholar- An international Refereed e-Journal of Literary
Explorations 3, no. 3 (August 2015): 133-140.
Ghosh, Manomohan. The Natyasastra, A Treatise on Hindu Dramatology and Historionics.
Calcutta: The Royal Asiatic Society of Bengal, 1950.
Kavi, M. Ramakrishna. Natyasastra with the commentary of Abhinava Gupta. Baroda:
Oriental Institute, 1934.
Kelkar, M.A. Subordination of Woman (A New Perspective). New Delhi: Discovery
Publishing Group, 1995.
Sharma, Priyanka. "Communication of Women's Discrimination and Sexuality in
Natyashastra." Global Media Journal- Indian Edition 4, no. 2 (December 2013).

40

A Derelict Assignee?
Jhilam Roy
A political list reserving a fatal expense for the over matched. A Kings lust against his
Queens plea bargain to reduce charges of obloquy and death. With the verdict hanging on
whimsical malice and royal injustice. Legend assigns Anne Boleyn, the most infamous of the
Henrician Consorts, a letter written in imprisonment, thirteen days before a French sword
silted her little neck on 19th May, 1536. The letter addressed to King Henry VIII, bore the
tragic conclusion of her short life and even shorter reign, giving an insight into those
convictions concerning her downfall that she carried to the grave. The purpose of this paper
is to review the nature and denotation of the text: was it devised to guarantee slaughter or
mercy? Was it an outrageous condemnation of legal sanctity or a voiceless bow to the virility
of corrupted power? What could have been its applicability successfully solicitous or
woefully derelict? Or was it a four hundred and eighty year old living testimony to the
phase Death and Life are in the power of the tongue?

Sir,
Your Graces displeasure and my imprisonment are things so strange unto me that what to write or
what to excuse I am altogether ignorant. Whereas you send onto me (willing me to confess a truth
and so obtain your favor) by such a one whom you know to be mine ancient professed enemy. I no
sooner received this message by him than I rightly conceived your meaning; and if confessing a truth
indeed may procure my safety, I shall with all willingness and duty perform your command. But let
not your Grace imagine that your poor wife will ever be brought to acknowledge a fault where not so
much as a thought ever proceeded. And to speak a truth, never a prince had wife more loyal in all duty
and in all affection, than you have ever found in Anne Bulen; with which name and place I could
willingly have contended myself, if God and your Graces pleasure had so been pleased. Neither did I
at any time so far forget myself in my exaltation, or received queenship, but that I always looked for
such alteration as I now find. For the ground of my preferment being on no surer foundation than
your Graces fancy, the least alteration was fit and sufficient (I knew) to draw the fancy to some other
subject.
You have chosen me from a low estate to be your queen and companion, far beyond my desert or
desire; if then you found me worthy of such honor, good your Grace, let not any light fancy or bad
council of my enemies withdraw your princely favor from me; neither let that stain, that unworthy
stain, of a disloyal heart towards your good Grace ever cast so foul a blot on me and on the infant
Princess, your daughter.
Try me, good King, but let me have a lawful trial, and let not my sworn enemies sit as my accusers
and as my judges; yea, let me receive an open trial, for my truth shall fear no open shame. Then shall
you see either my innocence cleared, your suspicions and conscience satisfied, the ignominy and slander
of the world stopped, or my guilt openly declared. So that, whatever God and you may determine of,
your Grace may be freed from an open censure; and mine offence being so lawfully proved, your Grace
41

may be at liberty, both before God and man, not only to execute worthy punishment on me as an
unfaithful wife, but to follow your affection already settled on that party, for whose sake I am now as
I am, whose name I could some good while since have pointed to, your Grace being not ignorant of my
suspicion therein.
But if you have already determined of me, and that not only my death but an infamous slander must
bring you the joying of your desired happiness, then I desire of God that He pardon your great sin
herein, and likewise my enemies, the instruments thereof, and that He will not call you to a strait
account for your unprincely and cruel usage of me at His general judgment seat, where both you and
myself must shortly appear, and in Whose just judgment I doubt not (whatsoever the world may think
of me) mine innocency shall be openly known and sufficiently cleared.
My last and only request shall be that myself only may bear the burden of your Graces displeasure,
and that it may not touch the innocent souls of those poor gentlemen whom, as I understand, are
likewise in strait imprisonment for my sake. If ever I have found favor in your sight, if ever the name
of Anne Bulen have been pleasing in your ears, then let me obtain this request; and so I will leave to
trouble your Grace any further, with mine earnest prayer to the Trinity to have your Grace in His
good keeping and to direct you in all your actions.
From the doleful prison in the Tower, the 6th May,
Your most loyal and ever faithful wife,
Anne Bulen.1
High Treason. Incest. Adultery. Witchcraft.
Against these most heinous crimes of mankind, for over four centuries stood this poor
solitary attorney whose dereliction cost its client her honour and life.
Allegedly drafted by the hand of the first infamously executed Queen of England on May 6,
1536 at the Beauchamp Tower (Tower of London): this letter known to history as the
[letter] To the King from the Lady in the Tower2 was the decisive testimony of Anne
Boleyn, soliciting her and her fellow convicts innocence and acquittal, in conflated notes of
condemnation, excoriation and mendicancy; before that historic trial in English History that
would escort a Queen to a traitors scaffold, for her appointment with the French
swordsman. Unfortunately, to the authority it was commemorated, it appeared as belleslettres one of the many infelicitous genres woven by a perfidious quill, in anticipation of
Note the repeated use of the Anglo Saxon equivalent of the word Boleyn (origin: Gallicized surname de
Boulaine) Bulen. Anne usually styled herself as Anne Boleyn hence this signature is inconsistent with
her style. Also at the time of writing the letter, she was still Queen of England and it would have been
customarily expected of her to sign herself as Queen Anne, which she did not. See Gareth Russell, May 6,
1536: The Mystery of the Queens Letter (Source: blogspot.com post, Confessions of a Ci-Devant, Thursday,
May 6, 2010). The original draft, however, had the use of the equivalent Bullen. This article uses the excerpt
in Lord Herberts publication of the original letter (quoted in Alison Weir, The Lady in the Tower: The Fall of
Anne Boleyn [London, 2010]) and substitutes the Bullen for Bulen for referential convenience.
2
The title heading the letter was in Thomas Cromwells handwriting. The original letter was supposedly found
with Sir William Kingstons letters, lying among Lord Cromwells other papers in 1540. The original draft
(Cotton MS. Otho CX 228), though damaged in a 1731 fire, is currently housed in the Cotton MSS of the British
Library. See Alison Weir, The Lady in the Tower: The Fall of Anne Boleyn (London, 2010).
1

42

justice against foul certitudes and hence its very purpose the final plea against a fatal deal
of deception was indulgently bypassed. However, so disputed was its content that since its
maiden publication in 16491, it has become the nuclei of an ever raging controversy,
dampening even the intensity of the embroilment associated with first class polemic cases
such as the Donatio Constanti, the Shroud of Turin, Shakespeares Lost Play, etc.
Anne Boleyn. The second and probably the best known of the six tragic wives of the
notorious Henry VIII, she is subject to veneration and censure by historical scholarship as
the only cause of banishing the Beast of Rome with all its beggarly baggage2 from
England and the aggressive patroness of a revolution as far reaching as the English
Reformation. An outstanding intellect eloquent in several tongues as well as a brutal and
effective politician3, Anne was the first English Queen to step outside the threshold of royal
domesticity and serve as the Kings fellow aviator in steering the Tudor state toward the
reformed good of Anglican modernization, away from the decaying and deterrent clogs of
conservative Roman Catholicism. Nevertheless, the seat of her affection in her husband and
her subjects rested on her ability to produce a male heir the sole mission wherein she
dismally failed. Moreover, for all her progressive doings, her supplanting of Katherine of
Aragon as the Queen Consort and her truculent treatment of the Princess Mary earned her
the wrath of the prominent factions of the nobility, for whom her term of Reformation had
always been synonymous to sinful heresy. After a woeful obstetric career involving a
daughter, a deformed stillborn and two miscarriages, she was sent to the Tower of London
(with her five alleged lovers4) to be discarded and killed on the flimsiest of evidences. Four
centuries later her crimes, even if negligently scrutinized, would betray their origins in
accusations rather than convictions5. Indeed, modern historians including Eric Ives, David
Starkey, and Alison Weir and alike believe that Anne Boleyns downfall was the tale of a
coup dtat designed to thaw her ominous manipulations of the Kings conscience, by the
exploitation of His Majestys darkest dread: a vain dynastic ambition!
But was the nobility solely to suffer the blame in this affair? What part did the lusting King
of England play in the overthrow of the barren whore of a wife; he became so exhausted of
after her deplorable birth record? Did he instruct his Lord Secretary Cromwell to fabricate
evidence to get rid of Anne so that he could marry the fresh fertility of Jane Seymour? Or
did Cromwell construct a case against the Boleyn faction to persuade the King of the
treachery of his wicked advisors? Or was Anne, in reality, guilty as charged?6 Her last letter
1

Lord Herbert, The Life and Raigne of King Henry VIII (1649). See Alison Weir,The Lady in the Tower: The
Fall of Anne Boleyn (London, 2010). Other sources include G. Smeeton, The Life and Death of Anne Bullen,
Queen Consort of England(Britain, 1820); and J.S. Brewer, J. Gairdner, R.H. Brodie, ed., Letters and Papers,
Foreign and Domestic of the Reign of Henry VIII (1862 1932)(Britain, 1862). See Claire Ridgeway,
http://www.TheBoleynFiles.com
2
John Almer.
3
David Starkey, Six Wives: The Queens of Henry VIII (London, 2003).
4
Viscount Rochford (George Boleyn, Annes brother), Sir Henry Norris (Groom of the Stool), Sir Francis
Weston and Sir William Brereton (two gentlemen of the Privy Chamber), and Mark Smeaton (a Flemish
musician and a Groom of the Privy Chamber). All were executed on May 17, 1536. Others imprisoned on
suspicion of adultery with the Queen were the poet, Sir Thomas Wyatt (Privy councillor and diplomat) and Sir
Richard Page (vice- chamberlain to the Duke of Richmond, Henry VIIIs bastard son); but they escaped
persecution and were acquitted.
5
Philip Melanchthon, unquoted.
6
Alison Weir, The Lady in the Tower: The Fall of Anne Boleyn (London, 2010).

43

puts her in an ambiguous light, i.e., of a person who had perhaps known the answer to all
these mysteries, either by hindsight or court gossip, but did not confess timely enough to
reveal her knowledge. Given that scholars1 have disputed over the authenticity of the letter
the handwriting2 and style alike indicated beyond reasonable doubt that this letter was
not really written or composed by Anne Boleyn3 many have questioned the authorship
and the purpose of this opus in Annes trial and execution of 1536. The verdict on the nature
of its service thus stands dubious: was it meant to magnify the popularly abhorred insolent
spirit of a Queen4 and in the process drive an outraged Henry to ruthlessly butcher her or
was it scribbled by a distraught and hapless woman, desperately petitioning for her very
existence? Is this letter really the derelict assignee it is thought to be or is it, in fact the
silent triumphant page of its alleged petitioners death sentence?
Provided that the letter was suspiciously found amongst Cromwells possession, either it
was his handicraft to seal Annes fate or that it was intercepted before it reached the
Sovereign to plead for a reprieve. After Annes execution, the King and his court, with
barbarous alacrity, turned their back on the past; making Anne Boleyn the taboo that never
should have existed. Her portraits were taken down or burned and the mention of her very
name was banned: in such hostile circumstances Cromwells preservation of her last letter
would obviously stand out. The Lord Secretary was the Queens ancient professed
enemy5 why would he think that it was desirable to keep a letter from Anne protesting
her innocence?6 Or why would he give the letter of an accused traitor such a poetically
romantic title? Either the writing was of great significance to the Tudor State or sentiments
might have been at work: he had climbed to power with the aid of Anne and now had to
destroy her in order to retain that power. It was the least justice he could do to the memory
of the person who gave him his silk-stocking! The disappointing conclusion that the letter
never made it to Henrys hand leaves the modern reader in much speculation about what
might have happened, had Henry VIII, in person, made the effort to revisit his cooled
Grand Passion in the Tower and hear her reticent alarm. Probably the climax would have
as apocalyptic as the one that followed after Richard Burton sojourned a la Genevieve
Bujold in Anne of the Thousand Days. All, from Annes arrest to execution was conducted
with such celerity by Cromwell that Henrys sympathizers contend that the Kind didnt
have the amenity to change his mind and grant pardon to the woman he once valued,
sufficiently to change the face of England.

.i.e., Herbert, Agnes Strickland, J. Gairdner, Friedmann, Sergeant, etc.

Savage, ed., Love Letters of Henry VIII. It is just possible that on 6 May, four days after her arrest, she was too
agitated to write it herself and dictated it to someone else (quoted in Alison Weir, The Lady in the Tower: The
Fall of Anne Boleyn[London, 2010]). Hence, the discrepancy between the handwriting in this letter and the one
in her authenticated letters.
3
J. Gairdner, ed., Letters and Papers, Foreign and Domestic of the Reign of Henry VIII (1862 1932). In his
view, it is written decades later in an Elizabethan hand (quoted in Alison Weir, The Lady in the Tower: The Fall
of Anne Boleyn [London, 2010]). The injunction might be correct the letter, its content so inconsistent with
Annes handwriting and style, could be an emotional forgery scripted in an Elizabethan classroom.
4
J. Gairdner, ed., Letters and Papers, Foreign and Domestic of the Reign of Henry VIII (1862 1932). He
opines that the letter bears all the marks of Annes character of her spirit, her impudence and her recklessness
(quoted in Alison Weir, The Lady in the Tower: The Fall of Anne Boleyn [London, 2010]).
5
See excerpt.
6
Alison Weir, The Lady in the Tower: The Fall of Anne Boleyn (London, 2010).
2

44

The letter effectively summarizes how Anne herself saw her downfall: a political coup
staged by a passel of power gourmand counsellors at the instigation of a lecherous
husband to satisfy each others purpose: the latters to marry her handmaid and the formers
to neutralize a politically interfering Queen and her cause of Reformation. Investigation,
spying, bribery and invention did the rest1. Her estimation was correct.
For some time, a notion existed that Henry VIII had Anne and her associates executed in
fear that Catholic Europe would turn against him with arms for pursuing heresy under their
influence. Undeniably, the Boleyn faction had been the most prominent servants of the
English Reformation an essence that endeared them to the English King whilst enraging
those temperamentally inclined to Roman Catholicism, presumably the Tudor Court and
the whole of Europe. The wave of arrest of the members of Annes innermost circle 2 and the
blocking of their access to the King drew the teeth of the reformist heretics; in fact, the
executions of May 1536 made sure that the Boleyn faction was never allowed to recover its
balance and by the end of the month, it was effectively dismantled to pave the way for the
rising stars of the Henrician court, the Seymours. Knowing that the eradication of her
faction would halt her much cherished process of Reformation Anne reasonably asked
Henry to spare the leaders particularly four of her lovers who were in strait imprisonment
for [her] sake3 a request he didnt comply with. Yet, miserably for the cuckolded King
and her Catholic enemies, their slanderous heretic Queen had the last laugh. The clients she
had promoted would remain to hold and consolidate a bridgehead for the Protestant
religion in England4. In a cruel twist of irony, Anne Boleyn would leave behind her heritage
in her daughter Elizabeth I, whose ascendancy in 1558 would not only reinforce the Boleyn
blood but also its reformist tendencies to the Tudor throne: the potency of this rejuvenated
Boleyn legacy, stronger than the initial surge, would chisel perpetually the condemned
Faith of a condemned Queen in the heart of country that so condemned them.
However, Annes injured, pious and reproving tone5 made sure that Henry showed her little
mercy. Every word is a sting, envenomed by a sense of intolerable wrong. 6 In asserting
she was in the Tower on account of her enemies and Jane Seymour and that her queenship
had no surer foundation than Henrys fancy7 she was accusing him of fickleness. Her
suggestion that he had already determined her death so he could marry Seymour was
tantamount to insulting Royal Justice and an implication that Anne would be sent to the
scaffold without a proper trial. Historians doubt this tone of psychological inconstancy at
such an extreme juncture, she was to reign in her sharp tongue in the interests of
ameliorating his displeasure8; instead she aggravated him. Why?

E.W. Ives, The Life and Death of Anne Boleyn (United Kingdom, 2005).
All those arrested with the exception of Annes Ladies in Waiting, Duke of Wiltshire (Thomas Boleyn, her
father), Lady Rochford (George Boleyns wife), Duke of Norfolk (Thomas Howard, her uncle), Matthew Parker
and Archbishop Cranmer of Canterbury.
3
See excerpt.
4
E.W. Ives, The Life and Death of Anne Boleyn (United Kingdom, 2005).
5
Alison Weir, The Lady in the Tower: The Fall of Anne Boleyn (London, 2010).
6
Agnes Strickland.
7
Gareth Russell, May 6, 1536: The Mystery of the Queens Letter (Source: blogspot.com post, Confessions of a
Ci- Devant, Thursday, May 6, 2010).
8
Alison Weir, The Lady in the Tower: The Fall of Anne Boleyn (London, 2010).
2

45

Semper Eadem, always the same was after all, Annes motto1. From the very beginning, she
was a powerful but unpopular outspoken Queen, defiant in her beliefs and audacious in her
enterprises. She had never been the waxen wife of conventional expectation, to be moulded
or impressed at her husbands will2. Accustomed to unhesitant speech, even to public
upbraiding of the King, she displayed the same ardour in her final days. Battered by the
demoralization and fragmentation of a prisoner under constant and unsympathetic scrutiny,
as well as driven by her sense of injury, Anne might have let her thoughts flow, unchained,
into the erudite petition. In her compos mentis or haste, she might have overlooked the fact
that her pleas would fall into the deaf ears of a different Henry, much altered by the
seductive promises of the Cromwell faction and his own capacity of self pity. Nonetheless,
her sharp wit had somehow gathered the new inimical constitution of his disposition
towards her for which she remitted the usual lavish title or any term of endearment that
might be expected of a Queen while addressing her King Consort; and began her letter with
the appellation of Sir, that was reserved for the commons to designate the King.
Yet, at the end of the letter, she took to humility and dropped her cynical note out of
Convention? Religion? Circumstances? The metaphor is clearly visible a condemned
traitor being stopped midway by the clergy or the sheriff, while delivering his farewell
scaffold speech because it had content defamatory to the State. The text is the evidence of
the blot of accusation that had defiled her mind, prior to her trial. It couldnt have been
guilt for she omitted, till her dying breath, to say she deserved death for the crimes alleged
against her. Nor, was it a vulnerable resignation to her doomed fate. Keeping in mind that
Anne was the source of her familys prospects as well as the shield that protected the infant
princess from the opposition that shrouded her since birth, she could be seen making a
frantic attempt to wheel her associates away from the jeopardized future that was being
contracted by her condemnation. Her death was impending and being the accountable
woman she had been all her life, this draft was a silent supplication that the Kings personal
displeasure against her would not manifest itself in the treatment of those intimately yoked
to her in person and patronage. Indeed, convention and religion demanded of men facing
eminent divine judgment to forgive and repent railing against injustice was unacceptable3.
Here, Anne followed both rubrics, albeit against her better judgment, as it would be
Elizabeth who would suffer from the luxury of defying the King and his supposed Justice4.
This was not the only instance where she would act threatened with the behest prescribed
for a traitor. In the letter, Anne professed her faith on the apotheosis of Tudor law while
discrediting its executors. Her writing mirrored the personal confliction of a reformist
Queen against that obsolete part of the Law of the Land that incessantly upheld the Crowns
case to be unassailable. It was a laudable prophesy made ten days prior to her fictitious trial,
where her accusers would sit as her judges5, delivering a formal approval of a death
warrant signed afore by an adulterous husband. A stabbing verity de novo! The convicted
Queen, however, would be seen praising the Justice redeemed to her, in her dying speech
1

E.W. Ives, The Life and Death of Anne Boleyn (United Kingdom, 2005).
Ibid.
3
Ibid.
4
See excerpt.
5
E.W. Ives, The Life and Death of Anne Boleyn (United Kingdom,2005).
2

46

For according to the law and by the law I am judged to die and therefore I would speak
nothing against it1
Evidently, Henry took to his heart his wifes criticism and saw her deathbed wishes as an
inflammatory plea bargain for which while the other troublesome queens of Europe like
Eleanor of Aquitaine, Matilda of Flanders and Joan of Navarre were decreed to divorce,
unceasing imprisonment or deportment to a nunnery for the crimes Anne was accused of;
she was sent to the block. Regardless of the extensive pains taken to promise her a fair
public trial, her death, as she had surmised, was a foregone conclusion. Decapitation had
always been the intention:
In mourning wise since daily I increase,
Thus should I cloak the cause of all my grief;
So pensive mind with tongue to hold his peace
My reason sayeth there can be no relief:
Wherefore give ear, I humbly you require,
The affect to know that thus doth make me moan.
The cause is great of all my doleful cheer
For those that were, and now be dead and gone.2
No wonder Henry VIII dissolved her Greenwich household, sent for an experienced
swordsman from Calais days before she was to step in the Crown Court, and promised his
beloved Jane the crown even before the sword was reddened with the blood of her
mistress3!
Hence, notwithstanding the applicability of the letter successfully solicitous or woefully
derelict Anne would be the valorous anodyne martyr of Anglican Tradition, the righteous
victim of Fortune or of unscrupulous, malicious schemers4. A woman of great promise who
risked everything for her royal ambition, only to lose her head over the King

Bibliography
Starkey, David. Six Wives: The Queens of Henry VIII. New York: Harper Collins, 2003.
Ives, E. W. The Life and Death of Anne Boleyn: The Most Happy. MA: Blackwell Publishing
Ltd, 2005.
In Reformation in England, J.H. Marle dAubigny writes admiringly of the letter We see Anne thoroughly
in this letter, one of the most touching that was ever written. Injured in her honour, she speaks without fear as
one on the threshold of eternity. If there were no other proofs of her innocence, this document alone would
suffice to gain her cause in the eyes of an impartial and intelligent posterity. See Gareth Russell, May 6, 1536:
The Mystery of the Queens Letter (Source: blogspot.com post, Confessions of a Ci-Devant, Thursday, May 6,
2010).
2
Sir Thomas Wyatt, Poems, CXLIX {an elegy from May 1536} (quoted in E.W. Ives, The Life and Death of
Anne Boleyn [United Kingdom, 2005]).
3
Agnes Strickland.
4
John Stow (quoted in Alison Weir, The Lady in the Tower: The Fall of Anne Boleyn [London, 2010]).
1

47

Weir, Alison. The Lady in the Tower: The Fall of Anne Boleyn. London: Vintage Books,
2010.
Russell, Gareth. "May 6Th, 1536: The Mystery of The Queen's Letter". Confessions of a CiDevant. N.p., 2010. Web. 13 Feb. 2016.

48

Pop Art and the Culture of Commodities

Tara Vidisha Ghose
Emerging in the 1950s and peaking in the 1960s, the Pop Art Movement in USA was set
against the background the boom of commercialization, the growth of capitalism and the
transforming nature of mass media. Against this context, Pop Art came to encompass a
variety of forms borrowing heavily from popular culture and the media, including magazines,
comic books, television, advertisements, mass-produced products, film and music. Through
this, many subjects that had up till that point never been dealt with in high art came to
occupy a central space. Further, it embraced commercialization in a way no movement
before it ever had. Though notions of the transcendental and spiritual nature of art persisted,
capitalism as propagated by America in the 50s and 60s had created a situation in which
art could freely be valued in terms of wealth and could work as an instrument for its
expansion. Now, the deeper value of art existed hand in hand with its commercial worth and
at times, the latter even came to be the prime element in this equation.1
The scope of this essay will be to critically analyse Pop arts love affair with consumer
culture and commodities. The influence of mass production, advertising and the media in the
works of artists like Roy Lichtenstein, Andy Warhol and James Rosenquist and the
commentary that these artists made on this culture of consumption will be analysed. The
essay will primarily focus on Pop Art in the United States of America since Western Pop Art
reached its peak here.

1. The Birth of Pop Art

1.1 Britain
The birth of Pop art took place in the 1950s in United Kingdom. It was triggered by the
activities of the Independent Group, a collective of artists, designers, architects and
musicians who held discussions and organized cultural events in the Institute of
Contemporary Arts (ICA) in London. In 1954, they began discussions on the relation of
popular culture and modernity. They established that unlike in the period of the war where
experience was first hand, post-war society was strongly tied to indirect experiences via
television and mass communication. Thus, the Independent Group felt that it had become
important to integrate popular culture into the realm of fine art.
These discussions of the Independent Group lead to the formulation of ideas that formed the
backbone of the Pop Art movement. It expressed these ideas through a series of exhibitions,
the most notable of which was This is Tomorrow held in Whitechapel Gallery in London
in 1956. The exhibition witnessed collaborations between artists, architects and designers,
drawing from the numerous things that were new to the visual culture of the 50s, including

Paul Mattick. The Romance of Art and Money. International Journal of Political Economy 25 (2009): 3-8.
Accessed 5 April, 2015,
https://d396qusza40orc.cloudfront.net/warhol/Week%204%20study%20group%20reading.pdf
1

49

celebrities, comic books and jukeboxes. Many art historians and critics mark the start of the
Pop art movement from this 1956 exhibition.1
One of the most iconic works that was created during this exhibition was Richard
Hamiltons Just what is it that makes todays homes so different, so appealing? (1956).
Hamilton made this collage for the exhibitions catalogue using images he had cut out of
American magazines. He described his piece to be a representation of the different luxury
items that are responsible for making modern American homes so different, so appealing to
post-war Britain, while simultaneously satirizing them. Items like the tape recorder, vacuum
cleaner, the lampshade with the Ford logo and the television set placed in a studio
apartment with its idealized, partially nude inhabitants represented the dream life of the
modern men and women of the West.2
Hamiltons piece, by attempting to show the aspirations of the British being influenced by
the capitalist luxuries of America contributes in demonstrating that the impetus of the
British Pop Art movement can be strongly linked to its alignment with the American values
of capitalism and the growth of media, advertising and popular culture. This understanding
becomes reinforced when we take into account that this movement was born during the
Cold War when America was in the forefront of the capitalist block and held a strong
cultural influence over the western block of which Britain was a part. Thus, the very birth of
Pop Art cannot entirely be removed from its link to capitalism and commercialization as
propagated by the United States of America.
1.2 Pop Art in America
Following its success in Britain, Pop art took its second birth in America, where it emerged
and evolved very differently from its predecessor. American Pop art, unlike its British
counterpart, was more critical of consumer culture. According to Nobert Lynton, 3 this was
because Britain romanticized mass media and consumerism since wartime rationing was still
a part of recent memory. Further, as mentioned before, it represented the ideal of American
culture. To the Americans, on the other hand, mass production was less novel and were
strongly representative of Americas craze over consumption tied to the rise of capitalism.4
2. The influence of Media, Advertising and Mass Production
Another artist who was well known for incorporating popular imagery in his art was Andy
Warhol. Warhols brand of Pop is characterized by appropriation of the effects of capitalism
and commercialization in America heavily influenced the themes that Pop Art dealt with,
the techniques the artists used and the manner in which works were exhibited. In this
context, it is impossible to overlook the role played by the media and advertising in laying
the foundations of the visual world from which Pop Art drew its subjects and a degree of its
1

Hodge, 50 art ideas, pp. 168-171.

Graham Smith, Richard Hamiltons Just what is it that Makes Todays Homes So Different, So Appealing?
Notes in the History of Art 9 (1990): 30-34. Accessed 5 April, 2015,
http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/23202669?sid=21105888813211&uid=2475382047&uid=60&uid=70&u
id=3738256&uid=2&uid=2475382057&uid=2134&uid=3
3
Lynton, The Story of Modern Art, 289-299.
4
Apart from being more critical of its primary subject, another distinction between American and British Pop
art was that American artists were far more commercially successful than their British counterparts. The art
movement also continued to flourish in America into the 70s, while in Britain, artists proceeded to follow their
individual pursuits.
2

50

aesthetics. For instance, the work of Roy Lichtenstein shows the heavy influence comic
books had on his art. He borrowed his technique and style directly from them, creating
large close-ups of dramatically composed comic book panels in bright colours depicting
glamorous women and sharp men. He even included comic-style text and speech bubbles in
his art and painted imitations of Benday dots to replicate the spotted appearance of cheaply
printed comic-strips, images from the media,1adding vibrant colours to them and repeating
them over and over again. His style is reminiscent of how the media and advertising use
repetition to build desires or desensitize us. Grudin locates Warhols work and its reception
against the background of crisis related to brand strategy. This basically referred to the loss
of markets by national brands to smaller private brands, which lead to the launching of a
new ad campaign strategy by Macfadden Publishing,2 which heavily influenced Warhols
work.3
The effect of advertising, capitalism and the growth of the supermarket had a strong impact
not only on the subjects that artists dealt with but also in the manner in which art was
produced and sold. Claes Oldenburgs plaster sculptures of food were sold in his gallery
called The Store, which literally borrowed the format of a general store. James Rosenquist
painted large billboard-style paintings, borrowing images directly from advertisements.
Warholstrove to work like a machine by adopting the silk screen printing technique 4 to
produce multiple copies of the same image, reminiscent of the homogeneity that is brought
in through manufacturing, a theme represented powerfully in his iconic Campbell Soup Can
silkscreen.5
3. The Idea of the Celebrity
Within the sea of commodities and media images that Pop art represented, the theme of
celebrity came to acquire an important space. Booming mass media had given rise to the
perception of the celebrity that became an arena for public commodification. Their personal
lives belonged in the public sphere and, as is seen in the case of Marilyn Monroe, even their
death could become a part of their image. An examination of the way Monroes death
influenced artists of the Pop Art movement can give us a glimpse into their interpretation of
the medias treatment of celebrities as icons and the integration of their personal lives into
this image.
Marilyn Monroe as a subject was a hot favourite among Pop Artists and her suicide was the
source of inspiration for several works since his physical death played a key role in
solidifying her image as a cultural icon. Monroes suicide and its relation to the co-option of
1

The images Warhol appropriated were images available to the public, ranging from those of consumer
products and celebrities to those of car crashes, criminals and electric chairs.
2
The campaign urged brands to direct their advertising at a target. The target, in the case of national brands, was
identified to be the masses rather than the middle or upper classes. This was because the masses could derive
status from their association with these brands. Along with this, it was believed that they were insufficiently
educated and did not know that the basic products of the nationalized brand were not different from those of
private brands.
3
Anthony E. Grudin, A Sign of Good Taste: Andy Warhol and the Rise of Brand Image Advertising Oxford
Art Journal (2010) 33 (2): 211-232. Accessed 5 April, 2015,
https://d396qusza40orc.cloudfront.net/warhol/Week%204%20Grudin%20reading.pdf
4
Silk screen printing is a technique of print- making involving the transferring of an image onto a screen and
blocking out the areas which do not require colour. The screen is then used to make numerous copies of the
same image. Sections of the image that require different colours are transferred on different silkscreens.
5
The Campbell Soup Can silkscreen was not only produced like a commodity of mass consumption through the
silk screen printing technique, but was also displayed as if in the grocery aisle of a supermarket.

51

her life as a public commodity inspired James Rosenquist to paint Marilyn, a broken-up and
inverted portrait of the late actress superimposed with parts of her name and the font of the
Coca-Cola logo.1My Marilyn (1965), a silkscreen made by Richard Hamilton was made
using photographs of an image from a 1962 issue of Town magazine printed shortly after
the Monroes death. The image showed pictures of the stars photo-shoots that had been
given to the actress for approval. Monroe had marked the alterations she wanted with
crosses. The act of the star destroying her own photographs with aggressive crosses made
the images especially stark against the backdrop of the actresss suicide.2
Andy Warhol created 24 different silkscreens of Marilyn Monroe depicting different aspects
of her image. In all of these, he used a cropped publicity photograph of the star from her
1950s movie, Niagara.3 The decision that Warhol made to use a publicity photograph,
rather than a personal photograph, seems to imply that the artist was talking about
Monroes public image as a manufactured commodity, as a celebrity or as a saint. The
commentary that these artists were attempting to make by depicting celebrities in their art
emphasized how the media had co-opted the lives of famous people and had converted every
aspect of their being into commodities. Thus, Pop Art brought into focus how the effects of
commercialism and capitalist world had come to convert human beings into objects of
consumption.
4. Conclusion
Nobert Lynton encapsulates the essence of the Pop Art movement by stating that Pop was
not merely a style of the depiction of specific subjects, but was primarily an encouragement
to examine and be critical of the different ways in which the items of daily life are kept
attractive to the men and women of the Western world.4 This, as this essay has attempted to
demonstrate, was strongly linked to the growth of capitalism in America and the impact it
had on commodity production, popular culture, media and advertising. These phenomena
had worked as tools to shape desires for consumption amongst the public. This
commodification through the media and advertising extended beyond the realm of factory
produced commodities to encompass celebrities as well as themes of disasters such as death
and calamities, which had come to become substances of consumption through
sensationalizing by the media. By depicting these subjects in their art in different ways,
including in the techniques they used and the manner in which art was displayed, Pop
artists often provided a critical commentary on how capitalism and the mass production of
commodities, images and messages had created a culture of consumption that extended
beyond material objects and had become an integral part of American life.

Bibliography
Crone, Rainer. Form and Ideology: Warhols Techniques from Blotted Line to Film. In The
Marilyn Monroe, I, MoMA, accessed on 6 April, 2015,
http://www.moma.org/collection/browse_results.php?criteria=O%3AAD%3AE%3A5021&page_number=1&te
mplate_id=1&sort_order=1
2
Richard Hamilton: My Marilyn 1965, Tate, accessed on 6 April, 2015,
http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/hamilton-my-marilyn-p04251
3
Andy Warhol: Marilyn Diptych 1962, Tate, accessed on 6 April, 2015,
http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/warhol-marilyn-diptych-t03093
4
Lynton, The Story of Modern Art, pp.289-299.
1

52

Work of Andy Warhol, edited by Gary Garrels. Seattle: Bay Press, 1989.
Crowe, Thomas. Saturday Disasters: Trace and Reference in Early Warhol. In Andy
Warhol (October Files), edited by Annette Michelson. Cambridge, Mass & London: MIT
Press, 2002.
Danto, Arthur. Andy Warhol. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2009.
Grudin, Anthony E. A Sign of Good Taste: Andy Warhol and the Rise of Brand Image
Advertising. Oxford Art Journal (2010) 33 (2): 211-232.
Hawksley, Lucinda, Antonia Cunningham, Laura Payne and Kirsten Bradbury. Essential
History of Art. Bath: Parragon, 2000.
Hodge, Susie. 50 art ideas you really need to know. London: Quercus, 2011.
Lynton,Nobert. The Story of Modern Art. London: Phaidon, 2010.
Mattick, Paul. The Romance of Art and Money. International Journal of Political
Economy 25 (2009): 3-8.
MoMA Learning. Campbells Soup Cans.
Museum of Modern Art. Marilyn Monroe, I.
Osterwold, Tilman. Pop Art. Italy: Taschen, 2003.
Smith, Graham. Richard Hamiltons Just what is it that Makes Todays Homes So
Different, So Appealing? Notes in the History of Art 9 (1990): 30-34.
Tate. Andy Warhol: Marilyn Diptych 1962.
Tate. Richard Hamilton: My Marilyn 1965.
Warhol, Andy, Interview with Gene Swenson. What is Pop Art? Answers from 8 Painters,
Part 1. In Ill Be Your Mirror: The Selected Andy Warhol Interviews, edited by Kenneth
Goldsmith. New York: Carroll and Graf, 2006. First published in ARTnews, November 1963.

53

Deconstructing Nationalism: Discourses in the 20th

Century
Sabujkoli Mukherjee
We live in an era of modern nation states, and nationalism is one of the defining features of
21st century politics. India is being governed by an ultra-nationalist government, which
conveniently panders to majoritarian interests, at the expense of tearing apart the richly
diverse societal fabric of the nation. It would be antithetical to the interests of the academia,
if nationalism is given a short shrift as one of the parochial forces, as a sophisticated and
unorthodox study in the theory would help us deconstruct a plethora of conflicts. My paper
draws on the observations of Benedict Anderson, who broke new grounds in his seminal work
Imagined Communities, Ernest Gellner, and Partha Chatterjees critique of the dominant
ideas of nationalism, though the lens of post-colonialism.

What passing-bells for these who die as cattle? -Only the monstrous anger of the guns.
Only the stuttering rifles rapid rattle
Can patter out their hasty orisons.
No mockeries now for them; no prayers nor bells; Nor any voice of mourning save the choirs,The shrill, demented choirs of wailing shells;
And bugles calling for them from sad shires.1
No more arresting emblems of the modern culture of nationalism exist than cenotaphs and tombs of
Unknown Soldiers.2
Nationalism captured the imagination of the academia in the 20th century, but a definitive
theoretical understanding of the concept has remained largely elusive. John Plamenatz
categorized nationalism into the Western type, with its genesis in Western Europe, and
the Eastern variant, concentrated in Eastern Europe, Asia, Africa, and Latin America; they
are dependent on the acceptance of a common set of standards which measures the
development of a particular national culture. The former did not perceive the standards of
progress as being alien to the national culture; while in the latter, there was a distinct
sense of alienation, precipitating the tension between the need to conform to the dominant
perception of development, and the urge to retain what is singular to that nation. The
former merely needed to create a state machine to cover, protect, and perpetuate viable
1

Jon Stallworthy (ed.), The poems of Wilfred Owen (W.W Norton and Company, 1986).
Benedict Anderson, Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism (Verso,
2006).
2

54

existing culture; the latter had to acquire a state and then, with its authority, create and
impose what is in effect a new culture1. Chatterjee says that Plamenatz preempts the
grounds for the liberal rationalist dilemma in the understanding of nationalism.
The liberal histories of nationalism, as put forth by Hans Kohn, set store by the idea that it
can be traced to the Enlightenment Era, which helped humanity realize the ideals of liberty,
democracy and progress. This seems facile if we analyse how nationalism has been
notoriously employed by modern nation states, which has subverted the essence of
humanity. The looming crises like irremediable alterations in the environment, dearth of
resources, proliferation of nuclear weapons, the nefarious workings of groups like ISIS and
Boko Haram, the denial of human rights to certain sections of our societal pyramid, poverty,
unemployment, command that we pool our resources, instead of being mired in parochial
politics of nationalism. Nationalism has, however, led to mindless chauvinism and
xenophobia and serve as justification for organized violence and tyranny.2 Hans Kohn
attempted to lay at rest this intractable dilemma, by making a distinction between the
Western and the Non-Western nationalisms, the former conforming to the liberalrationalists idea of inexorable progress.
Nationalism, they say, is distorted in a societal milieu which has conditions unpropitious to
freedom3, and there is nothing necessarily illiberal about nationalism as a concept, but
certain sociological conditions result in a deviant form of nationalism. The Non-Western
nationalisms should be studied as a process of development, as they strive to adhere to the
accepted norms and conventions of progress. The liberal rationalist conveniently takes
recourse to the sweeping concept of modernization, as he argues that the postcolonial
societies strive for that ideal, and the sociological approach helps resolve the contradiction
inherent in the liberal understanding of the concept.
The liberal school of thought is critiqued by those who believe that nationalism is a
Western construct, and has been superimposed on postcolonial societies which had been left
bereft of any agency owing to their colonial legacy. Elie Kedourie writes, from a
conservative viewpoint, that nationalism is neither something indigenous to these areas nor
an irresistible tendency of the human spirit everywhere, but rather an importation from
Europe clearly branded with the mark of its origin.4
Nationalism was a reaction to colonial hegemony, but in its conceptualization, it was
confined to the straitjacket of Western intellectual traditions.5 As Chatterjee argues, the
conservative and the liberal scholars do not appreciate the implications of the fact that
nationalism is not an autonomous discourse in the postcolonial structure.6 He argues that
this perpetuates the subjugation of non-European countries with a colonial legacy, as their
1

Gellner Ernest, Theory and Society (Springer, 1981), p.23.

John Plamenatz, Two Types of Nationalism, in Eugene Kamenka (ed.), Nationalism: The Nature and
Evolution of an Idea (Edward Arnold, 1976).
3 Ibid.
4 Elie Kedourie. Nationalism in Asia and Africa (Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1970).
5 Partha Chatterjee, The Nation and its Fragments Colonial and Postcolonial Histories (Oxford University
Press, 1987).
6 Ibid, p.10.
2

55

past and present is analysed as a function of the grand process of modernization as

perceived apt in the West, and denies them the power of choice in shaping their fate. He
interestingly swims against the tide, when he explores how thought itself can be placed
within a discourse of power, and can dominate and subjugate1. The bourgeois-rationalist
understanding of knowledge is inextricably linked to power, as it propagates the universal
legitimacy of the Eurocentric conception of modernity, as envisaged in the Enlightenment
Era.
Anderson opines that nationality, nation-ness, and nationalism are cultural artefacts of a
singular kind. It is imperative that we appreciate the historical genesis of these concepts, the
transformation in their connotations over a period of time, to gauge the paramount
emotional legitimacy that nationalism commands. Nationalism, ensuing its inception, was
modular: it could be transplanted to a great variety of social terrains, and political and
ideological constellations.2 This eventually became a bone of contention between Anderson
and Chatterjee.
Chatterjee reflects that Imagined Communities is indubitably critical as it has facilitated
our perception of the concept of nationalism3. Anderson projects the modern nation state as
an imagined political community, which is limited and sovereign. The nation is imagined, as
the members of even the smallest nation would not necessarily know, meet, or have heard of
most of their fellow members, still in their minds linger the image of their communion.
Ernest Gellner in his Nations and Nationalism writes, Nationalism is not the awakening of
nations to self-consciousness, it invents where they do not exist. Anderson demurs that
Gellner equates invention with fabrication, and not necessarily creation or imagining.
The nation is inherently limited, as it has finite boundaries, beyond which lie other nation
states. Nationalism is the brainchild of the era of Enlightenment, which disturbed the
unquestioning acceptance of universal religions and dynastic realms of divine descent, and
strove for freedom, the emblem of which was sovereignty. Nation states, irrespective of the
inherent inequality, are projected as a horizontal comradeship4.
Andersons study of the changing apprehensions of time and space has singularly
contributed to our theoretical understanding of nationalism. The medieval concept of
simultaneity-along-time gave way for homogeneous empty time, enabling us to think the
nation. It was marked by temporal coincidence, and measured by clock and calendar. This
can be analysed from the novel and the newspaper, which are the two important creations of
the 18th century, and represented the imagined community, that is the nation. The sway of
universal religions and divinely ordained kingdoms was interrogated, and these processes of
change were facilitated by the economic change, discoveries, and the development of
rapid communications. Print capitalism, at this opportune moment, provided novel ways
of perceiving the self in conjunction with the other, which paved the way for the genesis
of the modern nation state. This was complemented in the colonial period by a plethora of
1

Ibid, p. 10.
Ibid, p. 11
3 Anderson, 2006.
4 Chatterjee, 1987.
2

56

policies which revamped our perception of space, and contributed to the idea that is
nationalism. The census propagated abstract quantification, the map the rigid demarcation
of boundaries, and the museum the ecumenical, profane genealogizing.1
Partha Chatterjee argues that Anderson conceptualized nation states not as products of the
sociological milieu, but as being imagined into existence. Anderson postulates that
nationalism, once created, was modular, and was emulated in the postcolonial Third
World countries. Chatterjee critiques this viewpoint of Anderson, as it entailed that the
postcolonial world would be perpetual consumers of modernity, and our imaginations must
remain forever colonized.2
Nationalism, as Gellner hypothesizes, has its mainspring in certain defining traits of the
modern industrial state.3 The legitimacy of the use of violence is concentrated in the
modern nation state; the industrial society is economically specialized; it is occupationally
mobile; modern societies are imbued with mild to extreme socialism; tribalism or quietismon-principle are not feasible in this milieu, as the ramifications of central decisions entail the
political participation of sub-communities.4 The socio-political organization has envisaged a
gargantuan educational system, which in the transmission of central, universal, and
prolonged training, imposes homogeneity.5 The ideal of nationalism is not a consequence
of some inherent or universal appeal of the ideal; it is a consequence of the basic
organizational principle of modern society.6 The culture which is chosen as the medium of
this homogeneity becomes the object and symbol of loyalty, rhetoric and devotion.7
Gellner and Anderson perceive in the Third World nationalisms, Chatterjee says, an
essentially modular character; the former employed the lens of the industrial society,
while the latter studied the role of print capitalism8. Gellner conceptualized nationalism as
the imposition of high culture on the variegated complex of local folk cultures, and
Anderson dissected the formation of a print language and the shared experience of the
journeys undertaken by the colonized intelligentsia.9
This paper is a modest effort to pre-empt discussions on the various schools of thought that
exist on nationalism. The term nationalism has assumed sufficient notoriety in the
contemporary world, however, it defies any rigid definition. As a student of nationalism, I
agree with Andersons definition of a nation as an imagined political community, and the
subaltern critique of the dominant theories of nationalism. It is interesting to understand
Gellners viewpoint that a high culture subsumes the supposedly low cultures, for the
creation of homogeneity; this framework can be employed to understand certain conflicts.
Nationalism, like all important concepts, is analysed as a Western construct, which the
1

Anderson, 2006.
Chatterjee, 1987.
3 Ernest, 1981.
4 Ibid, p. 2, 4, 7, 8.
5 Ibid, p. 10.
6 Ibid, p. 16.
7 Ibid, p. 19.
8 Chatterjee, 1987.
9 Ibid, p. 21.
2

57

subaltern scholars opine perpetuates epistemic violence. We live in a world wherein it is not
necessary to flex military muscles to exercise hegemony in the arena of international
relations, but modern nation states are increasingly employing their soft power.
Knowledge is an essential facet of this domination, as a Eurocentric understanding of
modernity serves to continue the dominion of the West over the postcolonial societies.

Bibliography
Anderson, Benedict. Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of
Nationalism. Verso, 2006.
Chatterjee, Partha. Nationalist Thought and the Colonial World: a derivative discourse?
Oxford University Press, 1986.
Gellner, Ernest. Theory and Society. Springer, 1981, P. 23.
Plamenatz, John. Two Types of Nationalism, in Eugene Kamenka (ed.), Nationalism: The
Nature and Evolution of an Idea. Edward Arnold, 1976.
Kedourie, Elie. Nationalism in Asia and Africa. Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1970.
Chatterjee, Partha P. The Nation and its Fragments Colonial and Postcolonial Histories.
Oxford University Press, 1987.
Stallworthy, Jon (ed.). The poems of Wilfred Owen edited. W.W Norton and Company, 1986.

58